Dubai: World champion Chen Long extended his reign at the top with a clinical 21-16, 21-10 win over Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, while Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei made up for her failed attempt last year with a measured 21-17, 21-12 win over Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea as the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals concluded on Sunday.
Chen, who will climb one step up to world number one next Thursday, was at his best consolidating on yet another slow start before finishing off the men’s singles title match in just 47 minutes against his seventh-ranked opponent from Denmark.
The season-ending tournament was a superb high for the 25-year-old Chinese, who qualified for the competition following victories at the Korea Open and Denmark Open this year.
“I am very happy especially due to the support I received during this competition. It was a great atmosphere and I think I thrived on the support I received from the crowd,” Chen said after receiving his trophy from Saeed Hareb, General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), in the presence of Poul-Erik Hoyer, President, Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Sunday’s victory takes Chen’s total of major titles to 18, including five Super Series Premier, six Super Series and yesterday’s second Super Series Finals. In addition, he won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
In the women’s singles, Tai showed an early resolve as she led 11-3 at the first change-over. Sung tried to use her superior reach and out-fox her shorter opponent. But Tai showed versatility often catching Sung off-guard to take the first set 21-17.
The second set too moved in a similar direction with Tai going in with a 11-5 advantage at the change-over. Tai, who ended runner-up at last year’s finale where she went down to China’s Li Xuerui eventually eased her way through the set 21-12 to claim her first-ever Superseries Finals crown.
Earlier, the men’s doubles presented the perfect start to the final day with the top-ranked pair of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong of South Korea fighting from a one-set deficit to win 19-21, 21-19, 21-16 against seventh-ranked Chai Biao and Hong Wei of China.
Lasting nearly an hour and a half, this was the third career meeting between the two pairs and the Koreans have managed to keep a clean sheet so far after winning at the Indonesian Open in June followed by the China Open last month.
In the last final of the evening, China’s Zhao Yunlei shrugged off her earlier disappointment of losing in the women’s doubles to pick up the mixed doubles by partnering Zhang Nan for a 21-15, 21-12 win over team-mates Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin, after Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan had overcome Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei of China 21-17, 21-14 for the women’s doubles.
Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum was joined by Mattar Al Tayer, Vice Chairman, DSC in giving away the prizes.
