PETALING JAYA: Like fine wine, Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen continues to get better with age.
The 36-year-old proved age is no barrier after winning the China Open, a Super 1000 tournament, for the first time yesterday.
Tien-chen had to dig deep to beat France's Toma Junior Popov, who is 10 years his junior, 21-15, 7-21, 21-13 in a 64-minute final at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre.
The victory also ended Taiwan's 30-year wait for a men's singles title at the China Open, with Fung Permadi having last won the crown in 1996.
The veteran admitted he never expected to reach the final, let alone lift the title.
His triumph came just a week after a disappointing first round exit to Ireland's Nhat Nguyen at the Japan Open.
"It's unbelievable because I never thought I would reach the final, let alone become the champion," he said.
"I'm really grateful and give all the glory to God. At my age, just being able to stay on court and compete is already very difficult.
"I also want to thank everyone who has supported me, especially Victoria Kao (Tien-chen's physiotherapist). We work hard every day with the physios, nutrition and everything else to prepare for matches.
"Last week we didn't get the result we wanted, so we looked at how we could improve this week. Thankfully, we managed to do it," said Tien-chen in a post-match interview with the BWF.
His victory also made him the oldest player to win a BWF World Tour Super 1000 title.
"I think the key is to keep working hard every day and pay attention to the small details that can improve your performance.
"It's never easy. Even after a defeat, you have to get back to training the next day. You have to keep your mindset positive, and that's really important," he added.
RESULTS
FINAL
Men's singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-15, 7-21, 21-13.
Men's doubles: Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) 16-21, 21-19, 21-19.
Women's singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-18, 21-16.
Women's doubles: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) 21-14, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping 25-23, 20-22, 21-15.
SEMI-FINALS
Men's singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-18, 21-17; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Victor Lai (Can) 14-21, 21-12, 21-15.
Men's doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-19, 21-13; Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) 21-19, 14-21, 21-19.
