DefendingĀ champion and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei was denied her ninth title this year when Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, the second seed, packed her off with a three-game 22-20, 17-21, 21-13 win in the women’s singles final in the USD750,000 Yonex French Open in Paris on Sunday.
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It was sweet revenge for the Japanese who had lost to Tzu Ying in last year’s final and stretched her head-to-head advantage to 4-8 on a day when Indonesia’s top seeds in the men’s doubles Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo also fell in the final.
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The top-rankedĀ Indonesians could not stop the aggressive Chinese pair of Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong who snatched a 23-21, 8-21, 21-17 win in 52 minutes for the title. The Chinese had also beaten the Indonesians in the China Open this year.
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China’s former world No 1 Chen Long continued hisĀ giant-killing feats in Paris. After knocking outĀ current world number one and top seed Kento Momota of Japan 21-18, 21-8 in the semi-finals, the reigning Olympic champion ousted second-seed,Ā compatriot Shi Yuqi 21-17, 21-19 for his first French Open title.
World champions and fifth seeds Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara of Japan snuffed out the only European finalists – Stoeva sisters Gabriela and Stefani of Bulgaria in the women’s doubles final 21-14, 21-19 for the title as Asians swept all five titles at stake. BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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