# Chong Wei’s third successive superseries title
# Defeats China’s Tian Houwei in straight sets
# Carolina Marin edges Japan’s Nozomi for women’s title
Former World No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei won his third superseries in a row when he added the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open with a 21-16, 21-15 win over China’s Tian Houwei in the final on Sunday.
Earlier the 33-year-old Malaysian won the China Open superseries premier in Fuzhou last week and the French Open last month.
To-date Chong Wei has won five titles – having won the US Open and Canada Open Grand Prix Gold he won in June after making a comeback to competitive badminton on May 1 following an eight-month ban for doping.
Chong Wei has seen a surge in his performance after he was dumped out in the Japan Open in second round by Lin Dan and failed to retain the title.
This was followed by the biggest disappointment when he failed to get into the main draw of the Viktor Korean Open after losing to Korea’s former world junior champion Heo Kwang-hee in the first round in the qualifiers.
There was more disappointment for Chong Wei when he fell to Hong Kong’s Wei Nan in the second round in the Denmark Open. But the Malaysian had enough of the disappointments and showed the badminton world that he is far from over when he showed that he is still a threat by clinching the French Open.
That was the spark he needed and rode on his French success and new found confidence to nail the China Open where he scalped the top three seeds on his way to the title – defeating World No 1 and top seed Chen Long 21-15, 21-11 in the final.
In the process Chong Wei gained sweet revenge for his defeat to Chen Long in the final in the World Championships in Jakarta in August.
In the Hong Kong Open, Chong Wei showed that his win in Fuzhou was no flash in the pan when he dumped Chen Long again in a week, winning his quarter-final match 13-21, 21-19, 21-13.
The win over Tian Houwei earned Chong Wei USD26,250 but what is more important for the 33-year-old Malaysian is that he has regained his confidence after being in the dumps at one stage.
Chong Wei used his experience to tame the Chinese youngster who won 21-19, 17-21, 21-18 in their only previous meeting which was in the Australian Open in 2013.
In the women’s singles final current World No 1 and top seed Carolina Marin of Spain was given a run for her money by unseeded Nozomi Okuhara before prevailing 21-17, 18-21, 22-20 in a 84 minute battle.
RESULTS (All Finals)
MEN
Singles
Datuk Lee Chong Wei (Mas) beat Tian Houwei (Chn) 21-16, 21-15
Doubles
Lee Yong Dae-Yoo Yeon Seong (Kor) beat Matias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) 21-7, 18-21, 21-18
WOMEN
Singles
Carolina Marin (Spn) beat Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-17, 18-21, 22-20
Doubles
Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) beat Tang Yuanting-Yu Yang (Chn) 21-15, 21-12
Mixed Doubles
Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) beat Liu Cheng-Bao Yixin (Chn) 21-17, 17-21, 21-17
