Bangkok: Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan survived 4 match points against Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long to win his second title of the season on Sunday at Thailand Open.
After winning the first set 21-14, Chou found himself in slight trouble as he went down 11-21 in the second set and was on the verge of losing the match when he was trailed 16-20 in the decider.
“At the end of third-set, I told myself whether I win or lose, I need to hold on until the last point to show the true value of a badminton player,” said Chou.
Chou who was falling behind pretty much the whole third set, then coming back to tie the score at 20-20, to finally winning the Thailand Open with 23-21.
“The first game was very smooth but Ng changed his tactics in the second by forcing me to run around the court while I also made a lot of errors. I upped my tempo in the decider, and tried to save every shot. I am very happy to be able to win the match,” added Chou.
“I noticed Ng was quick at the front court in the decider, therefore, I was hitting more shots towards his backcourt, and that turned out to be very effective,” explained Chou.
Chou will then get ready for the World Championships that will be held in St. Jakobshalle, Münchenstein, Switzerland, from August 19 to August 25.
Meanwhile, “Dark horses” from India – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty made a great run at the Thailand Open by beating No. 3 seeds Li Jun Hui/Liu Yu Chen of China 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 for the men’s doubles title.
In the women’s singles final, China’s top seed Chen Yufei defeated Thailand’s former world champion Ratchanok Intanon 22-20, 21-18 to win her fourth title of this year, while extending her career meeting record against Intanon to 9-3.
Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto of Japan who was knocked out in the first round of Japan Open last week, claimed the women’s doubles title by outlasting Du Yue/Li Yinhui of China 21-19, 14-21, 21-13 while China’s Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dongping won their second titles in two weeks by overcoming Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan 24-22, 23-21 in the mixed doubles final.
