Hosts China clinch four of five titles at Masters
China's Wang Zhengming returns to South Korea's Son Wan-ho during their men's singles final at the China Masters badminton tournament in Changzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, on Sunday. Photo: CFP
China's badminton stars on Sunday celebrated victory on home soil, claiming all but one of the five titles up for grabs on the final day of the China Masters tournament.
Seventh seed Wang Zhengming took the men's singles title after a marathon one-hour and 15-minute game against South Korea's Son Wan-ho, which he eventually won 11-21, 21-14, 24-22.
In the women's final, Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk failed to clinch a fairy-tale title after she was overcome by China's Liu Xin 21-4, 13-21, 21-12.
Buranaprasertsuk staged the upset of the tournament when the unseeded 21-year-old defeated China's world No.1 Li Xuerui in their semifinal on Saturday.
Top seeds Ko Sung-hyun and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea beat second seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan 25-23, 21-19 in the men's doubles, the only final to witness a non-Chinese winner.
In the mixed doubles final, second seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China claimed a 21-18, 21-12 victory against South Korea's Yoo Yeon-seong and Eom Hye-won, who were runners-up for the second year in succession.
The Chinese pair, who are also Olympic champions, took just 36 minutes to beat their opponents.
In the women's doubles, top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang beat second seeds Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua 21-17, 21-16 in an all-China final.
The winning pair also took gold at the World Championships in Guangzhou last month.
The China Masters, staged in Changzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, is part of a 12-tournament Superseries organized by the Badminton World Federation.
AFP - Global Times