Strong Japanese make mincemeat of rivals
Japanese shuttlers capped off a successful week in Bangkok with three titles at the Thailand Open at Nimibutr Stadium yesterday.
Fourth seed Nozomi Okuhara, the reigning world champion, defeated second seed Pusarla V Sindhu of India 21-15, 21-18 in the women’s singles final to make it three out of four for the Japanese contingent at the US$350,000 (approximately 11.5 million baht) BWF World Tour Super 500 event.
Earlier, Kanta Tsuneyama defeated Tommy Sugiarto 21-16, 13-21, 21-9 to claim the men’s singles honours while world No.5 pair Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda beat Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe 21-17, 21-19 in an all-Japan men’s doubles title match.
Olympic doubles champions Misaki Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi were the only Japanese team beaten yesterday.
Okuhara received the $26,250 (866,250 baht) winner’s cheque while Sindhu got $13,300 (438,900 baht).
Meanwhile Sugiarto’s loss meant Indonesia missed out on their hat-trick quest after they won both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles earlier in the day.
Eighth seeds Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja stunned No.1 seeds Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock 21-12, 21-12 in just 28 minutes in the first title match of the day.
The pair received $27,650 (912,450 baht) while the English pair got $13,300 (438,900 baht).
Fourth seeds Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu then defeated Japan’s third seeds Matsumoto and Takahashi 21-13, 21-10.
Men’s doubles winners Kamura and Sonoda received $27,650 (912,450 baht) while Endo and Watanabe got $13,300 (438,900 baht).
Thai players reached three semi-finals of their national open, including the men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles events, but their challenge ended with a whimper on Saturday.