Seoul: The World No. 4 men’s singles player Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan has picked up his third international title of the year on Sunday, defeating Indonesia’s World No. 14 Tommy Sugiarto 21-13, 21-16 in 39 minutes for the Korea Open trophy.
Prior to Sunday’s final, both players held a 4-4 career meeting records, with Sugiarto got the better off Chou in the recent two matches (2018 All England and 2018 Indonesia Open).
Chou was off to a slow start in the final, trailing 5-8 before unleashing a series of strong attacks to reel off seven consecutive points and never looked back.
The second set was one-sided as Chou took an early lead before Sugiarto levelled it at 8-8. Chou then broke the tie with a net shot that forced Sugiarto to lift the shuttlecock high where Chou quickly seized the opportunity to launch a smash at Sugiarto’s backhand. Chou went on to claim the second set in just 21 minutes.
Before the Korea Open, Chou overcame Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong in the German Open final in March, and outlasted teammate Hsu Jen-Hao to win the BWF World Tour Super 500 Singapore Open in July. Chou was also the runner-up of the 2018 Asian Games in August.
After winning the Korea Open, Chou also offered his condolences to victims of the Indonesia earth quake and Tsunami where the death toll has risen to 832.
“My heart is painful for the news of earthquake and tsunami. May God bless the people in Palu,” in response to the magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island on Friday, killing more than 800 people.
In the all-Japanese men’s doubles final, No. 8 seeds Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe fought back from dropping the first set to outlast compatriots Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 9-21, 21-15, 21-10.
