Story by REDintern Delle Chan. Photos by Vanessa Lim and Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
The Singapore women’s doubles pair of Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari beat South Korean fifth-seed Hyo Jung Lee and Ming Jun Kim 21-17, 22-20. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, June 20, 2010 — Singapore’s Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei did the nation immensely proud by claiming the women’s doubles title at the Singapore Badminton Open with a 21-17, 22-20 victory over South Korea’s Kim Min Jung and Lee Hyo Jung to bag Singapore’s first title in the competition’s 20-year history.
The two pairs had faced each other back in February at a preliminary match of the 2010 Uber Cup and the Korean pair had emerged triumphant. However, the Singapore duo proved their mettle this time in a thrilling encounter.
Korea raced to an early four-point advantage at the beginning of the first set before Singapore notched their first point. However, the latter did not lose their composure and instead, patiently played catch-up to eventually take the lead halfway through the set.
With an eight-point lead in the bag, the Singapore duo appeared to be in cruise control. However, a lapse of concentration saw them fritter away a large portion of their lead to their more physically imposing Korean counterparts. Despite this, Yao Lei and Shinta managed to hold out to win the first set 21-17.
The second set proved to be an extremely nerve-wracking affair. Singapore managed to lead 11-10 at the break but relinquished it to the Koreans shortly thereafter.
At 20-16, the Korean duo looked set to claim the set, but the elusive match point never came. Instead, Yao Lei and Shinta staged a phenomenal comeback, winning six points in a row to claim the set 22-20 and secure a historic win for the Republic.
An evidently pleased Yao Lei enthused: “We are very happy … It was definitely far more exciting with the crowd behind us. Yesterday’s win made us more confident. Also, we worked hard throughout the game.”
Their doubles coach Eng Hien praised the pair, saying: “It was a great performance from them for the past two weeks, and they displayed good fighting spirit today. The heart and mind have to work together to produce results.”
In the women’s singles final, top seed Saina Nehwal of India defeated 16-year-old Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 21-18, 21-15 in straight sets to claim the crown. Nehwal is currently ranked number one in India, and sixth in the world.
The men’s doubles final saw Fang Chieh Min / Lee Sheng Mu from Chinese Taipei overcome Howard Bach / Tony Gunawan from USA 21-14, 21-15 to emerge as the top men’s pairing in the tournament.
In a surprise, Sony Kuncoro from Indonesia edged out 2009 runner up Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand 21-16, 21-16 in the men’s singles final.
In the mixed doubles final, Thomas Laybourn / Kamilla Rytter Juhl from Denmark triumphed over Nova Widianto / Liliyana Natsir from Indonesia 21-12, 21-15.
N.B. This event is also known as the Li-Ning Singapore Open 2010 Super Series
Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari encouraging each other as they close the point gap between them and their opponents. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
For more photos, go to the next page.
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