PETALING JAYA: China sent a warning to their rivals ahead of the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris by sweeping four titles in the home Open in all-local finals.
Men’s singles shuttler Shi Yuqi led the charge when he fought hard to beat surprise finalist Wang Zhengxing 14-21, 21-14, 21-15 in 64 minutes at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou on Saturday (July 26).
World No. 2 Yuqi was the hot favourite against world No. 23 Zhengxing and duly proved his class and experience by capturing his first crown in the home Open and third World Tour Super 1000 title of the year after triumphing in the Malaysian Open and All-England.
In the women’s singles, world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi secured the title with a commanding 21-8, 21-13 victory over world No. 3 Han Yue in a one-sided final.
Han Yue had made it into the title match after South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young retired from their semi-final match while trailing 19-21, 6-11 due to a knee injury a day earlier.
World No. 1 pairs Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning and Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping had earlier justified their top billings by claiming the women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles respectively.
Shengshu-Tan Ning overcame a stiff challenge from world No. 7 Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian, coming out on top 24-22, 17-21, 21-14 in a thrilling match which lasted 69 minutes.
It was the duo’s fourth title of the year after their wins in the Indonesian Open, Japan Open and Malaysian Masters and underlined their status as favourites for gold in the world meet.
Yanzhe-Dongping also flexed their muscles by ousting world No. 2 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin 23-21, 21-17, denying the latter back-to-back titles after their success in the Japan Open last week.
Yanzhe-Dongping added to their victories this year in the Malaysian Masters and Thailand Open.
China will now be in a confident mood ahead of the Paris showpiece with the pressure now firmly on their rivals in the world meet.
