Taking a breather: China’s Wang Zhiyi lying on the court after a rally against compatriot Han Yue in their women’s singles final. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: China’s clean sweep of all five titles at the Hong Kong Open yesterday not only underlined their dominance on the international stage but also matched a feat they last achieved 13 years ago.
The highlight was men’s doubles pair Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang, who ended their title drought with a hard-fought victory over India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the final at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon.
Weikeng-Wang Chang prevailed 19-21, 21-14, 21-17 to capture their first title in 11 months, with their last triumph coming at the Denmark Open in October last year.
For the Chinese duo, the win was all the more meaningful after a disappointing campaign at the World Championships in Paris two weeks ago.
“I have many family members here (in Hong Kong), so it feels like I’m winning at home. For us, this title is a big boost. I feel this change is a form of progress. If you ask me what the change is, I would say today was a match worth looking back on,” said Weikeng in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The last time a Chinese men’s doubles pair captured the Hong Kong Open was in 2012 through Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng.
On that occasion, China also swept all five titles with Chen Long (men’s singles), Li Xuerui (women’s singles), Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (women’s doubles) and Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (mixed doubles).
Even more remarkable, China had also dominated all five finals the year before.
In this edition, besides Weikeng-Wang Chang, China’s other champions were Li Shifeng (men’s singles), Wang Zhiyi (women’s singles), Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (women’s doubles) and Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (mixed doubles).
