Sitthikom secures Akita Masters win
Sitthikom Thammasin upset Ihsan Maulana Mustofa to win the men’s singles title at the Akita Masters in Japan yesterday.
The Thai eighth seed stunned the No.2 seed from Indonesia 21-10, 21-13 in a 41-minute final of the US$75,000 (approximately 2,475,000 baht) BWF World Tour Super 100 tournament.
It was Sitthikom’s fourth career title, but his first at the elite World Tour level. The 23-year-old won the Tata Open India International and claimed a runner-up spot at the Indonesia International, both BWF International Challenge tournaments, last year.
He claimed his first title at the Singapore International in 2012 when he was just 17 and added another title a year later at the Smiling Fish International, both BWF International Series events.
Meanwhile Japanese shuttlers had another great week as they won three titles from four events on the final day of competition yesterday.
Sayaka Takahashi maintained her hot streak, claiming back-to-back women’s singles titles.
The top seed beat fellow Japanese Mako Urushizaki 21-11, 13-21, 21-18 in a thrilling 61-minute encounter.
World No.12 Takahashi also won the Singapore Open title last week.
Second seeds Ayako Sakuramoto and Yukiko Takahata also made it two in a row by winning the women’s doubles honours.
Yesterday’s final was a repeat of last week’s title match in Singapore and the second seeded pair again came out on top against Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 23-21, 21-11 in an all-Japanese showdown.
Kohei Gondo and Ayane Kurihara won the third title for the Japanese contingent by taking home the mixed doubles crown.
Gondo and Kurihara battled past Indonesia’s Alfian Eko Prasetya and Angelica Wiratama 21-9, 21-23, 21-17 in 66 gruelling minutes.
Akbar Bintang Cahyono and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia denied the Japanese a fourth win when they beat Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Hiroyuki Saeki 21-16, 21-6 in the men’s doubles decider.