Gold medalist Shi Yuqi (right) and silver medalist Lu Guangzu, both from China, pose on the podium after the men's singles final match at the Australian Badminton Open in Sydney, Australia on November 20, 2022. Photo: IC
China's Shi Yuqi bagged the men's singles title at the Australian Badminton Open 2022 on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over his compatriot Lu Guangzu in the final.
In a 69-minute clash with Lu, Shi sealed the 21-19 first-set win after reaping six consecutive points from 19-15 down. Losing the second set by 21-18, Shi trounced Lu 21-5 in the decider.
"I was a little bit exhausted at the first two sets and not fully recovered from the semifinals. In the tiebreaker, I felt that my physical strength was built up again and I was able to move faster," Shi said afterward.
Shi claimed a hard-fought 21-16, 16-21, 21-19 triumph over Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the semifinals on Saturday.
"Every point had to be fought, and there's too much back-and-forth in the match. It's a tough game. I just tried to find any scoring chances during those long rallies," Shi told Xinhua on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, Lu emerged as the first finalist in the men's singles after clinching a 21-18, 21-15 victory over Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong.
China's Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu claimed a 21-19, 21-13 win over Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard of Thailand in the women's doubles final in 44 minutes for their first championship since their debut as a pair in March.
"This is a reward for our hard work. But we also found our deficiencies during the tournament, which we still need to make up for through further games and training," Zheng told Xinhua.
Another gold medal for China went to the men's doubles pair Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi. The eighth-seeded duo got the better of their sixth-seeded opponents Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia 21-16, 22-20.
As the tournament's top seed and world No.2, South Korea's An Se-young secured her women's singles title by overcoming Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-17, 21-9.
In the mixed doubles, the fourth-seeded duo Seo Seung-jae/Chae Yu-jung of South Korea defeated their compatriots Kim Won-ho/Jeong Na-eun 21-9, 21-17 to take the title.