# Chong Wei wins his first superseries title this year
# Malaysian ace beats defending champion Tien ChenĀ
He finally broke the jinx in the superseries in his fourth attempt as Malaysia’s former World No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei won the USD275,000 Yonex French Open title when he staved off a strong challenge from defending champion Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan in the final in Paris on Sunday.
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It was third French Open title – having won in 2007 and 2011. The last Malaysian to win the French title was Daren Liew in 2012.
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A clenched fist and a couple of punches in the air signalled his triumph as Chong Wei held off a strong challenge from the Taiwanese in the second set when Chong Wei surrendered a healthy 18-7 lead to allow his opponent dictate terms to creep up to 18-19.
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However, the 33-year-old Malaysian, checked the slide at the right time to win the next two points to take the set and match in 47 minutes much to the relief of coach Hendrawan and Chong Wei himself.
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Ā Anxiety was written all over the face of Hendrawan and Chong Wei as the 25-year-old Taiwanese suddenly found himself in position to force a rubber. Ā
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This was understandable as Chong Wei was playing in his first superseries final heartbreaks in his three previous outings – the Yonex Japan Open, the Viktor Korea Open and the Yonex Denmark Open.
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It was Chong Wei’s third title this year since coming back from an eight-month ban for alleged doping. Since the ban was lifted on May 1 the Malaysian won back-to-back USA Open and Canadian Open Grand Prix Gold.
The up and coming Taiwanese, seeded sixth and ranked No 5 in the world, showed his fighting qualities while Chong Wei’s experience was second to none although the Malaysian appeared jittery and nervous as his opponent reeled off points to narrow the gap.
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Chong Wei, ranked No 19 pocketedĀ USD20,625 in prize money while Tien-chen was USD10,450 richer.
Spain’s reigning world champion Carolina Marin, seeded second, won the women’s singles with a 21-18, 21-10 win over fourth seed Wang Shixian of China in 45 minutes.Ā
RESULTS (All-Finals)Ā
MEN
SINGLES
Datuk Lee Chong Wei (Mas) beat Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 12-213, 21-18
DOUBLES
Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) beat Mads Conrad Petersen-Mads Pieler Kolding (Den) 21-14, 21-19
WOMEN
SINGLES
Carolina Marin (Spn) beat Wang Shixian (Chn) 21-18, 21-10
DOUBLES
Huang Yaqiong-Tang Jinhua (Chn) beat Luo Ying-Luo Yu (Chn) 21-13, 21-16
MIXED DOUBLES
Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na (Kor) beat Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Ina) 21-10, 15-21, 21-19
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