Rian Agung Saputro-Hendra Setiawan
Defending champions Indonesia retained the men’s title in the Badminton Asia Team Championships when they defeated China 3-1 at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Alor Star tonight.
Indonesia led 2-0 through the Jonatan Christie in the first singles and Muhammad Ahsan-Angga Pratama (main pix) in the first doubles tie. Qiao Bin made things exciting when he won his singles game against Anthony Ginting.
But China’s hopes of a comeback ended when Rian Agung Saputro-Hendra Setiawan, ranked 273 in the world, outplayed their 51st ranked rivals, Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong, to emerge champions again.
In the opening game of the final, Jonatan Christie battled furiously against Shi Yuqi and was rewarded for his tremendous determination.
The Indonesian, ranked 13th in the world, lost the first game 16-21 but bounced back to draw level at 21-17. In the decider, Jonatan was trailing down the final stretch but he launched a comeback to win 21-18 to give Indonesia the lead.
In the second tie, Muhammad Ahsan-Angga Pratama kept their composure to emerge victorius and more importantly claim Indonesia’s second point. They beat He Jiting-Tan Qiang 21-19, 21-18 in 37 minutes.
Indonesia’s hopes of sealing an early win were ruined when Anthony Ginting was unable to get past Qiao Bin who eventually won 21-12, 11-21, 21-14 in a batttle that alsted one hour and 12 minutes.
Rian Agung Saputro-Hendra Setiawan then stepped up and sealed a famous win for Indonesia when they beat the higer ranked Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong 21-14, 21-19 in just under 40 minutes.
Japanese women storm past China in final
Japan outplayed defending champions China 3-0 in the final of the Badminton Asia Team Championships at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium here today. In what was a repeat of last year’s Asia Team Championships final, Japan were on fire today as they swept past their rivals.
Japan got off to a flying start when Akane Yamaguchi laoured past Chen Yufei 21-16, 12-21, 21-14. They doubled the score when Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi defeated Du Yue-Li Yinhui 21-13, 21-16 in 42 mins.
In the third match, former All England champion Nozomi Okuhara sealed a lopsided victory when she worked her way past He Bingjiao 19-21, 21-16, 21-10 in just over an hour.
RESULTS
MEN’S FINAL
China lost to Indonesia 1-3
Shi Yuqi lost to Jonatan Christie 21-16, 17-21, 18-21 (72 mins)
He Jiting-Tan Qiang lost to Muhammad Ahsan-Angga Pratama 19-21, 18-21 (37 mins)
Qiao Bin bt Anthony Ginting 21-12, 11-21, 21-14 (72 mins)
Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong lost to Rian Agung Saputro-Hendra Setiawan 14-21, 19-21
Did not play
Zhao Junpeng vs Firman Abdul Kholik
WOMEN’S FINAL
Japan bt China 3-0
Akane bt Chen Yufei 21-16, 12-21, 21-14 (57 mins)
Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi bt Du Yue-Li Yinhui 21-13, 21-16 (42 mins)
Nozomi Okuhara bt He Bingjiao 19-21, 21-16, 21-10 (66 mins)
Did not play
Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota vs Cao Tong Wei-Zheng Yu
Sayaka Sato vs Gao Fangjie
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