Mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying were no match for defending champions Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir in the final in the USD1,250.000 Blibli Indonesia Open and went down 17-21, 8-21 in 38 minutes.
The Indonesian Open final was a repeat of the Rio Olympics final with the Indonesians, ranked No 3, maintaining their supremacy over the Malaysians and take their head-to-head count to an impressive 10-1.
Still, Peng Soon-Liu Ying can hold their heads high in Jakarta after their first-round exit in the Malaysia Open a week earlier.
Much was expected from the 15th ranked Malaysians after they packed off world No 2 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong 21-18, 21-16 in the semi-finals and world No 1 pair Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping with a 21-19, 21-14 in the quarter-finals.
But it turned out to be a hurdle too high against the top-seeded Tontowi-Liliyana and the partisan home crowd at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
The only consolation for the Malaysians was the big pay cheque of USD43,750 for their efforts. The champions pocketed USD92,500.
Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying came through a three-game final in the women’singles to prevail 21-23, 21-15, 21-9 in a 54-minute match against China’s Chen Yufei and went home USD87,500 richer. Yufei (fifth seed) settled for USD42,500.
Japan’s Kento Momota smashed world No 1 and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in a one-sided final. The unseeded Momota romped home to a 21-14, 21-9 win in 38 to pocket USD87,500. Axelsen’s prize was USD42,500. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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