BIRMINGHAM, March 19 (Xinhua) — China’s Li Shifeng clinched the lads’s singles title in his first look on the All England Badminton Open right here on Sunday.
Li, 23, performed confidently within the last in opposition to compatriot Shi Yuqi, who had received the event in 2018. He held off Shi’s fightback within the late phases of the primary recreation to win 26-24, then breezily took the second recreation 21-5.
“I was quite relaxed today after winning the tough match last night,” mentioned Li, who took a sensational win over Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-11, 19-21, 21-18 in Saturday’s semifinal. “I definitely wanted to clinch the title, but I care more about trying my best and enjoying the game.”
Mixed doubles high seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China beat South Korean pair Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung 21-16, 16-21, 21-12, clinching the All England Open title for the second time.
“Although we took home ten titles last year, this year is a new beginning,” mentioned 29-year-old Huang, who had paired up with Zheng to take silver on the Tokyo Olympics.
“We will start our journey for the Olympic qualification soon and I hope we will be in our best form.”
In the ladies’s singles, China’s Olympic champion Chen Yufei didn’t repeat her 2019 triumph, because the 25-year-old misplaced to South Korea’s second seed An Se-young 17-21, 21-10, 19-21.
But Chen, who outplayed world No.1 and reigning champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan within the semifinals, mentioned she may look ahead with extra confidence.
“I feel I’m not left behind. I should be confident in my ability,” mentioned Chen. “Although Yamaguchi and An are top in the rankings and have played consistently for a long time, I have the opportunities to beat them as long as I handle all the details well.”
Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea received the ladies’s doubles, whereas Indonesian Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rain Ardianto took gold within the males’s doubles.