KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei continued to show that Japan is one of his favourite hunting grounds after crushing Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-14, 21-12 in just 34 minutes to nail his fifth Japan Open title in Tokyo.
He was also the winner in 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013. With his feat on Sunday, Chong Wei has underlined his status as the most successful player on Japanese soil since the tournament’s inception in 1984.
In the final on Sunday, Chong Wei was hardly tested by the world No. 15 Hu Yun, who had earlier dumped two pre-tournament favourites - second seed Chen Long of China and third seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in the quarter-final and semi-final matches respectively.
The Malaysian sizzled in the opening game when he led all the way with his commanding show.
Hu Yun sparked a hope of making a comeback after taking a 12-10 lead in the second game but a determined Chong Wei came charging back with 11 straight points to reel home his fourth Superseries title of the year.
Chong Wei’s three other Superseries title this year are the Malaysian Open, All-England and Indian Open.
National singles coach Tey Seu Bock beamed with joy over Chong Wei’s superb attitude on court en route to his win.
“He truly played like a champion. His attitude on court was admirable - he was so focused and played with such confidence. He did not take Hu Yun lightly at all,” said Seu Bock.
Seu Bock is hoping that Chong Wei will continue with his fine run in the Indonesian Open starting on Wednesday in Jakarta. Chong Wei has won the Indonesian Open title for five times in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 and hopes are high on him to add one more.
“He has not won a back-to-back title this year and we hope he will be able to pull it off at Indonesia. He is physically in good shape and I am confident that he can produce another great performance,” added Seu Bock.
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