KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Anders Antonsen of Denmark was left in dreamland after winning the Malaysian Open title.
World No. 9 Antonsen played brilliantly to upstage China’s world No. 6 Shi Yuqi 21-14, 21-13 in the men’s singles final at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday to put himself right back as one of the rightful contenders for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The victory continued the Danish dominance in the tournament after world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen had captured the title in the last two editions.
“It feels incredible to win the title. I’m still in shock,” said a thrilled Antonsen.
“This is the biggest moment in my life.
“I played really well in the first game. I was nervous in the second but managed to get over the line.
“I really didn’t expect to win in straight games,” added Antonsen.
Feeling mighty: Denmark’s Anders Antonsen posing in front of a throng of photographers after beating China’s Shi Yuqi in the men’s singles final. — S.S. KANESAN / The Star
The Dane felt that Yuqi was not at his best physically after he was stretched to three games thrice en route to the final including in the last four against Axelsen a day before.
“Yuqi had to play three games in three matches in this tournament. He had a tough match against Viktor yesterday (Saturday) and also played later than me,” he said.
“It was an uphill battle for him in the second game, playing against the draught.”
It was the 26-year-old Antonsen’s second Super 1000 crown after capturing the prestigious season-ending World Tour Finals in 2020. He was once ranked second in the world but an injury slowed down his progress.
Meanwhile, Yuqi’s individual title drought in the past year continued after he also finished runners-up five times in 2023.
The 27-year-old’s last triumph came in the 2022 Australian Open.
There was joy though for China when Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang and Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning captured the men’s and women’s doubles titles for the first time in the home tournament respectively.
World No. 1 Weikeng-Wang Chang battled hard to defeat India’s world No. 2 Satiwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 9-21, 21-18, 21-17 while Shengshu-Tan Ning beat teammates Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu 21-18, 21-18 to clinch the crown.
FINAL RESULTS
MEN’S SINGLES: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-14, 21-13..
MEN’S DOUBLES: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) 9-21, 21-18, 21-17.;
WOMEN’S SINGLES: An Se-young (Kor) bt Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) 10-21, 21-10, 21-18..
WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu (Chn) 21-18, 21-18.
MIXED DOUBLES: Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Kim Won-ho-Jeong Naeun (Kor) 21-18, 21-15.
