BANGKOK (AFP): Denmark's Anders Antonsen won the badminton men's singles final of the Thailand Open on Sunday, getting his revenge against homegrown Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who defeated the Dane last year.
World-ranked No. 3 Antonsen won 9-21, 24-22, 21-18 in 1 hour 37 minutes in Bangkok on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Dane entered the finals after a walkover win in the semi-finals when world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China withdrew. Shi exited the Malaysia Open early in January due to a back injury.
Antonsen admitted he got a "little bit lucky" with Shi pulling out, calling the Chinese athlete "a very difficult opponent".
The noise of the crowd and trying to find his grip powder in his bag during the match also hurt his focus.
"My mind was everywhere else but on the match. But suddenly I was leading 5-0 and I was like, 'oh wow, OK, I have a chance now,'" he said.
World No. 2 Kunlavut, 25, won last year's Thailand Open, beating Antonsen in the final.
"To get the win this year feels incredible," Antonsen said.
Kunlavut called it a "very tough match", adding that Antonsen had "come to attack first" and his height allowed him to "control anything in the court".
In the women's singles final, world-ranked No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan defeated China's Chen Yufei, who is ranked fourth.
Yamaguchi won 21-14, 21-18 in 39 minutes.
"This year I did not make another final so this result is very important for me," she said after her victory.
"As the game progressed, I felt that Chen Yufei was attacking more so rather than being nervous, I tried to stay calm and play my own game," Yamaguchi said, adding she was "happy to play a good, attacking game".
In the women's doubles final, China's Bao Lijing and Cao Zihan came out on top over Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan.
Indonesians Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin triumphed in the men's doubles over Indians Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty after back-and-forth match points. -- AFP
