Tokyo: Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia has become the first player to win six titles at the Japan Open Superseries. The top-seeded Malaysian fought back from dropping the second set to beat third seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-18, 15-21, 21-16 in the men’s singles final in 70 minutes.
Although Jorgensen managed to save 2 game points in the first set, Lee held on to overcome spirited resistance of Jorgensen to wrap up the game 21-18. However, after 12-12 in the second set, Jorgensen clinched 4 consecutive points to surge ahead at 19-13 and claimed the game to force a decider.
Lee continued to pressure his opponent in the decider, powered through from 5-8 down to 11-8. Lee then started to take control of the match and never looked back.
The Malaysian badminton maestro extended his head to head lead to 17-1 over Jorgensen after Sunday’s victory. Lee lost to Jorgensen once at the 2009 China Superseries.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for Korea’s doubles specialist Ko Sung Hyun who entered into 2 finals at the tournament. Ko and Kim Gi Jung made too many unforced errors to go down to Chinese pair Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen 12-21, 12-21 in the men’s doubles final. Ko and his partner Kim Ha Na who was the No. 1 mixed doubles pair in the tournament, were no match for No. 7 seeds Chinese duo Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen in the mixed doubles final, bowing out 10-21, 15-21.
Lee Chong Wei took home US$22,500 in prize money as the men’s singles champion, while Jorgensen earned US$11,400.
