Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting is on a roll as he continued with his giant-killing feats in the USD1 million Victor China Open to win the men’s singles title with a 23-21, 21-19 win over Japan’s world champion Kento Momota in the final on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Asian Games bronze medallist had defeated China’s Olympics champion Chen Long in the quarter-finals and then Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals. The win over Tien-chen was sweet revenge for his defeat in the semi-finals in Asian Games.
In a 63-minute final played at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium in Changzhou, Jiangsu the Indonesian kept his nerves in check to win his biggest pay cheque of USD70,000. Momota took home USD34,000.
It was an all-China final in the mixed doubles with top seeds Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong having no difficulty in snatching a 21-16, 21-9 win over compatriots and fifth seeds Zhang Nan-Li Yunhui in only 29 minutes.
The champions were USD74,000 richer while the losers went home with USD35,000.
In the “battle of the champions’ Rio Olympics champions, Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi defeated reigning world champions Maya Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara 21-16, 21-12 in 34 minutes in an all-Japan final in the women’s doubles.
The women’s singles title was won by Spain’s Carolina Marin who beat local hope Chen Yufei 21-18, 21-13 while the men’s doubles title went to Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. The European champions downed China’s former world junior champions Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong 21-13, 17-21, 21-14. RIZAL ABDULLAH
