[UPDATED] Malaysia Open: Intanon claims second title, Apriyani-Siti Fadia win maiden trophy

KUALA LUMPUR – World number eight women’s shuttler Intanon Ratchanok claims her second Malaysia Open title after winning against China’s Chen Yu Fei 21-15, 13-21, 21-16. 

The pair previously met three weeks ago at the Indonesian Masters finals where fourth seed Yu Fei took the win. 

This time around, Intanon held a commanding lead in the first set, but 2020 Olympic gold medallist Yu Fei was not going down without a fight and bounced back to win the second set.

In the end, it was the Thai shuttler that took control of the final set to close out the win. 

“I dedicate this win to my family and my late mother. I gave it my all today.

“The match was hard because she is a strong player, but I just kept fighting to win points,” she told reporters after the tournament win. 

She added that in the third set when Yu Fei was catching up, flashes of her loss in the Indonesian Masters final began to creep in.

“I just kept telling myself to not think about it and focus on the match. I believed in myself and trusted myself. 

“Thank you to the Malaysian fans for supporting me, makes me happy to see so many supporters here,” she added.

Intanon’s first Malaysia Open win came in 2016 when she defeated China’s Wang Yi Han.

Meanwhile, the new Indonesian women’s doubles pairing of Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti won their first Malaysia Open trophy after taking down China’s Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu 21-18, 12-21, 21-19. 

The last Indonesian women’s doubles to win the Malaysia Open was in 1967. 

Apriyani previously won the 2020 Olympics together with Greysia Polii. She said with her new teammate, she wants to pass on the knowledge she learned from her seniors. 

“I want to guide the juniors and keep improving. We didn’t think we would be so successful so quickly being paired up, but we are thankful,” they said after the win. 

In the mixed doubles category, top seed pair Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong of China won against second-ranked Thai duo Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-13, 21-18 to win their third Malaysia Open title together.  

This is Zheng Si Wei’s fourth title here with the first coming in 2017 when he was paired with Chen Qing Chen. – The Vibes, July 3, 2022.