(*credit image: tribunnews.com)
It was a repeat of last year's final in the men's singles and this time it was Japan's current World No 1 Kento Momota who tamed Indonesia's No 7 seed Anthony Ginting in a three-set thriller in the Victor China Open in Changzhou on Sunday.
The Japanese top seed pocketed a whopping USD70,000 in prize money after his 19-21, 21-17, 21-19 win an absorbing 91 minutes.
It was also sweet revenge for his 23-21, 21-19 defeat by Ginting in last year's final.
It was a delight to watch Momota cross over to Ginting after the match where the duo exchanged their shirts and hugged each other for the entertaining badminton they dished out which drew applause from the crowd who had made their way to the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou.
"My mental strength and fighting spirit won me the match," said Momota, who is also the world champion, Asian champion and the All England champion, after the match.
For Ginting, it was simply "I need to cut down on my mistakes…if I can do that then I can beat him," said the Indonesian, who won the bronze medal at last year's Asian Games in Jakarta.
Indonesia's World No 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo made up for the disappointing outing in last month's World Championships in Basel, by winning the men's doubles title – defeating compatriots and world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan 21-18, 17-21, 21-15.
The Super 1000 event carried a whopping USD1 million in prize money.
The tournament also saw Spain's reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin retain her women's singles title – coming back from a game down to snatch victory with the scoreline reading 14-21, 21-17, 21-18.
In an All-China mixed doubles final top seeds Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong beat second seeds Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping 21-17, 13-21 21-16 for the title.
China also took the women's doubles title through Cheng Qingchen-Jia Yifan.
The fourth seeds prevailed in straight games 21-14, 21-18 against Rio Olympics champions Misaki Matsumoto-Ayaka Takahashi of Japan.
RESULTS
(All Finals)
Mixed doubles
Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (CHN) beat Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (CHN) 21-16, 13-21, 21-16
Women's singles
Carolina Marin (SPN) bat Tai Tzu Ying (TPE) 14-21, 21-17, 21-18
Men's singles
Kento Momota (JPN) beat Anthony Ginting (INA) 19-21,21-17, 21-19
Women's doubles
Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (CHN) beat Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 21-14, 21-18
Men's doubles
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) beat Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (INA) 21-18, 17-21, 21-15
