China’s Huang Yaqiong (left) and Zheng Siwei pose on the podium after victory during the mixed doubles final against Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals badminton tournament in Bangkok on Dec 11, 2022. - AFP
BANGKOK, Dec 12 (Xinhua): Chinese shuttlers won three titles in the season finale of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals which ended in Bangkok on Sunday night (Dec 11).
In the men's doubles final, China's Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi had the upper hand for most of their match against Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
After taking the first set, they seemed to be cruising to victory when leading 15-8 in the second set. But they suddenly lost tempo to allow the Indonesian veterans to force the match into a decider, in which Liu and Ou regained their dominance to take the match 21-17, 19-21, 21-12.
"We made many unforced errors in the second set, which should not have happened. But we stuck to our game plan and tried our best in every single play. It's rewarding for us to take the match back into our hands," said Liu afterwards.
In the women's doubles final, China's world champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan encountered little challenge from Thailand's Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard before claiming a comfortable 21-13, 21-14 victory.
In the mixed doubles final, world champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong disappointed home fans by defeating Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand for a third straight end-of-season crown. Zheng and Huang won 21-19, 18-21, 21-13 to take their tenth title of the season.
"We were separated at the beginning of the year and when we regrouped later, we couldn't have anticipated we could have recovered from the slump we were in to be at where we are now," said Zheng after the match, referring to their dismal performance at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the following difficulties.
"It seems that we have returned to normal form, and we hope to be calmer to face what we encounter, no matter whether it's good or bad, so that we can work on our next target," he added.
The titles of men's and women's singles went to the respective world No.1 shuttlers. Viktor Axelsen of Denmark strolled past Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-13, 21-14, while Japan's Akane Yamaguchi beat Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei 21-18, 22-20. - Xinhua
