World No.1 An Se-young and No.2 Shi Yuqi claim singles titles at Singapore Open
An and Shi needed three games to overtake their opponents and remain at the top of the rankings heading into the final tournaments before Paris 2024.
Badminton
World No.1 An Se-young and world No.2 Shi Yuqi showed top form again at the Singapore Open, winning a third and fourth major title of the year, respectively, on Sunday (2 June).
Displaying her fighting spirit, An took 77 minutes and three games to edge past Olympic badminton champion Chen Yu Fei of the People’s Republic of China.
An defended her narrow lead in the first game to take it 21-19, but fell quickly behind in the second. Coming back for the deciding game, the Republic of Korea's star quickly raked up a sufficient lead to run off with the win and her third title of the year.
She previously won the Malaysia Open in January and the French Open in March.
Over in the men's singles event, it was a duel of teammates with Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng, both of the People’s Republic of China, battling for the top honours.
Li claimed the first game, but Shi trailed him closely in the second and ultimately took it 21-19. The third proved a rollercoaster of emotions as Li soared ahead by seven points midway only for Shi to catch up and overtake him in the final two points.
With this victory in Singapore, Shi adds to his three earlier titles this year, from the French Open, India Open and Malaysia Open.
Results from finals day at the BWF World Tour Singapore Open:
Mixed doubles: Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (CHN) def. Yang Po-Hsuan/Hu Ling Fang (TPE) 21-11, 21-19
Women’s doubles: Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (CHN) def. Matsuyama Nami/Shida Chiharu (JPN) 21-15, 21-12
Women’s singles: An Se-young (KOR) def. Chen Yu Fei (CHN) 21-19, 16-21, 21-12
Men’s singles: Shi Yuqi (CHN) def. Li Shifeng (CHN) 17-21, 21-19, 21-19
Men’s doubles: He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu (CHN) def. Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA) 21-19, 21-14