Unseeded Wang stuns Yamaguchi to win Asian title
MANILA: Unseeded Wang Zhiyi withstood a late fightback from world champion Akane Yamaguchi to record a stunning victory in the women’s final of the Badminton Asia Championships on Sunday.
Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia took the men’s title with a 21-17, 23-21 win over Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie—then tore off his sweaty top and hurled it into the Manila crowd in celebration.
China’s Wang, ranked 16th in the world, needed treatment on a back injury but hung on to beat the Japanese top seed and defending champion Yamaguchi 15-21, 21-13, 21-19 in 78 minutes of pulsating action that had the raucous crowd rocking. “I think it’s something I couldn’t have imagined because before the competition everyone including myself didn’t think that I could achieve these results,” the 22-year-old said. As in her semifinal win on Saturday over second seed An Se-young, Wang had to recover from the loss of the opening game.
After levelling the match, the up-and-coming Chinese player looked to be heading for a comfortable victory as she raced into a 16-5 lead in the decider, before nerves and her niggling back kicked in to give Yamaguchi a lifeline. The Japanese used all her experience to claw her way back as Wang began to make unforced errors and Yamaguchi levelled at 19-19 after a 30-shot rally. But Wang summoned up reserves of energy and forced Yamaguchi to go long to set up a first championship point.
Another marathon rally followed, but when Yamaguchi netted, Wang collapsed on her back in exhaustion and elation.
Marin beats Gilmour for sixth European title
MADRID: Three-time world champion Carolina Marin clinched the European Championships title for the sixth time on Saturday, making a triumphant return after a knee injury sidelined her for 10 months. Marin, who injured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee last year, was unable to defend her women’s singles crown at the Tokyo Olympics.
She won 21-10, 21-12 against Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in Saturday’s final.