Chen Yufei and Shi Yu Qi win singles titles at 2024 Indonesia Open
Olympic badminton champion Chen Yufei successfully defended her 2024 Indonesia Open title beating world number one An Seyoung in an action-packed women’s singles final on Sunday (9 June).
The men’s singles final went the way of Shi Yu Qi who beat Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-9, 12-21, 21-14 in an equally entertaining contest.
The women's singles contest pitted world number one and two against each other for what promised to be a mouth-watering affair. The match lived up to its billing with world champion An going toe-to-toe with reigning Olympic champion Chen.
The Chinese ace drew first blood winning the first game with relative ease before An struck back in the second with an identical scoreline to set up the decider.
Chen found some ascendency in the third opening a four-point gap (6-2) over the world number one.
An put her body on the line in the third performing acrobatic dives but it was not enough to chip away at Chen’s advantage. On her part, Chen stayed composed in the face of the tenacious Korean shuttler.
By the mid-game break, Chen held an 11-7 lead over An giving her a psychological edge knowing she only needed 10 more points to defend her title successfully.
In a crucial moment in the third An made a brave but ultimately futile dive to her right with Chen extending her lead to five points (13-8).
Highlighting her tenacity, An won the next point coming out on top in a 52-shot rally. She then clawed her way back reducing the deficit to just one point (16-15).
Chen again opened a three-point gap but An would not relent as she levelled the scores at 18-18 to get her within striking distance of a come-from-behind win.
But Chen would not be denied as she struck the winner wide of An with the shuttlecock landing on the edge of the line to give her the game and her consecutive Indonesia Open title.
Shi claims historic men's singles title
In the men’s singles final, Shi confirmed his status as the form shuttler with back-to-back World Tour titles becoming the first Chinese male player to win the Indonesia Open since 1989.
He won the Singapore Open title the week before and is set to move to the top of the World Badminton rankings next week.
The two players were embroiled in an arm wrestle early in the match before Shi found his rhythm going on a run of 13 straight points (17-6) to take the first game at a canter.
Antonsen seemed to recover well from Shi’s first-game blitz taking an early three-point lead in the second.
But unforced errors allowed Shi back with the Chinese ace levelling the scores at 5-5 resulting in a tit-for-tat battle. Antonsen enjoyed an 11-8 lead at the interval and managed to hold off a Shi resurgence to take the second in dominant fashion to equal the scores.
The deciding game developed into another nail-biter before Shi edged ahead 11-7 at the interval. Shi built carried the momentum through after the break to seal the victory.
Elsewhere, Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin beat compatriots Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong 21-11, 21-14 in the mixed doubles final.
The Republic of Korea’s Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee beat Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan 21-17, 21-13 for the women’s doubles title.