NEW DELHI – Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn and South Korea’s An Se Young wore out their more fancied opponents to clinch the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2023, a HSBC-BWF World Tour Super 750 event organised by the Badminton Association of India.
Vitidsarn, who had lost all the six men’s singles matches against top seed Viktor Axelsen before Sunday, engaged the tall Dane in long rallies in the decider before prevailing 22-20, 10-21, 21-12 in an hour and four minutes, before Young got the better of Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 15-21, 21-16, 21-12 in just over an hour.
The Thai shuttler was the underdog going into the summit clash against Viktor, who had last lost a final in May 2021 and had been unbeaten in 13 thereafter, but showed strong nerve as he stuck to controlling the pace of the rallies and pushed the Olympic and world champion into longer rallies.
The game plan allowed Vitidsarn to open up a 16-13 lead before Viktor clinched five straight points to take the lead and soon earned a game point.
But a lucky net cord allowed the former junior world champion to draw level and he then clinched two straight points to win his first game against the Dane on the 13th attempt.
Viktor roared back in the second, racing through the game but Vitidsarn managed to regroup himself and engage his opponent in long rallies.
The top seed clearly looked more tired than his opponent during the business end of the match and handed the Thai his first Super 750 crown with an unforced error while returning a short serve.
“From my earlier losses against Viktor, I had learned that if I could engage him in long rallies and take the match to the decider, then I have a chance to win. I managed to do that today and even after losing the second game, I believed that I could win,” he added.
Earlier, Young avenged her Malaysian Open final loss against Yamaguchi last week, with yet another clinical performance in her maiden Yonex-Sunrise India Open appearance.
Yamaguchi was in complete control in the opening game, but Young managed to turn the tables in the second to force the decider. The Japanese had the upper hand in the initial exchanges of the third and final game before the Korean managed to win eight of the nine points from 4-7 down.
The two players then engaged in a couple of 30-plus stroke rallies and one 51-stroke rally and though Young lost those, Yamaguchi looked more tired after that, and the Korean’s superior stroke play helped her seal victory.
In the day’s other match, Chinese men’s doubles pair Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang upset world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia 14-21, 21-19, 21-18.
The Japanese mixed doubles pairing of Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino and women’s doubles combination of Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida grabbed the titles without hitting a shuttle as their respective opponents withdrew citing illness. – Bernama, January 22, 2023
