Surprise package: England’s Ben Lane (right) and Sean Vendy celebrating after beating Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana in the Swiss Open. — AP
PETALING JAYA: England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy stole the show in the Swiss Open when they toppled Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana to capture the men’s doubles title.
The world No. 21 English pair edged the 2022 All-England champions 24-22, 28-26 in a nail-biting final in Basel yesterday.
Lane-Vendy were trailing 17-20 in the second game but stayed cool to come from behind to stun Shohibul-Bagas.
The 27-year-old Vendy hurt his foot and needed medical attention with the scores locked at 21-21 in the second game but shrugged off the injury and was not to be denied the win.
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medallists could not contain their emotions after ending their long wait for a World Tour Super 300 title.
Lane-Vendy’s only previous World Tour title was the Super 100 Orleans Masters in 2021.
The Orleans tourney was upgraded to Super 300 level last year.
Lane-Vendy have also managed to turn around their form superbly after suffering first-round exits in all their previous individual tournaments this year.
It was joy for the English pair but despair for Shohibul-Bagas, who have not managed to win any individual titles since capturing the All-England two years ago.
The Indonesians, who made it into their first final this year, also finished runners-up in the Orleans Masters and Opens in Denmark, France and Thailand last year.
RESULTS
Semi-final
Men’s singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 19-21, 21-11, 21-12; Lin Chun-yi (Tpe) bt K. Srikanth (Ind) 15-21, 21-9, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza (Ina) 20-22, 21-8, 21-15; Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Ina) bt Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin (Ina) 21-19, 21-15.
Women’s singles: Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Tomoko Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-18, 21-12; Gregoria Mariska (Ina) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-15, 21-17.
Women’s doubles: Lanny Tria-Ribka Sugiarto (Ina) bt Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) 13-21, 21-10, 23-21; Hsu Ya-ching-Lin Wan-ching (Tpe) bt Angela Yu-Setyana Mapasa (Aus) 21-12, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin (Tpe) 21-16, 21-12; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas) bt Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Ned) 21-18, 21-16.
Final
Men’s doubles: Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 24-22, 28-26.
