Frenchman Alex Lanier and the Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty have etched their names in history at the Singapore Open badminton championships.
They are the first shuttlers from either country to win a title at one of the pioneer tournaments in the world, that held its inaugural tournament in 1929.
Lanier dashed the home hopes when he denied former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the men’s singles final. Kean Yew was looking to be the first Singaporean to claim the title since Wee Choon Seng in 1962. But it was Lanier, who took the honours of claiming a maiden win for the French, coming back from an opening game loss to win 17-21, 21-15, 21-14.
He is also the first European since Peter Gade Christiansen in 2006 to win the singles title.
Lanier was beaten by Kean Yew in the opening round last year but has now increased his head-to-head record against the Singaporean to 3-1.
In the men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj-Chirag continued their smashing form to became the first Indians to win the title in 97-years. The duo claimed their first title in two years with a fighting 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 win over Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.
They battled for a marathon 73-minutes to signal their return to top flight after coming close to winning the Thailand Open a fortnight ago. They had lost to another Indonesian pair – Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin – in the final in Thailand.
The win in Singapore, was also sweet revenge for the Indian pair, who were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open by Fajar-Shohibul.
Korean ace An Se-young overcame fever and a determined opponent to claim her third women’s singles title in Singapore. She had won the title in 2023 and 2024 but exited in the quarter-finals last year.
The world number one defeated three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi 21-11, 17-21, 21-19 in the final.
It was the first final meeting between the duo since Yamaguchi defeated Se-young at the Korean Open last year.
This victory follows her wins at the Asian Individual Championships in April and her unbeaten contribution in Korea’s Uber Cup victory earlier this month.
the 31st World Women’s Team Championships (Uber Cup, May), marking her third consecutive international tournament win.
Although she was beaten by China’s Wang Zhiyu at the All-England, Se-young is the most successful player on the circuit this season, having also won the Malaysia Open and India Open.
Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Bøje produced a brilliant comeback performance in the mixed doubles final to defeat Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara 17-21, 21-12, 21-12.
The victory marks their second tournament title in just three weeks after winning Thailand Open just two weeks ago.
The win was also a historic one, with their their triumph in Singapore making them the first European mixed doubles pair ever to win more than one Singapore Open title. They had also claimed the title here in 2023.
China’s Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian defeated compatriots Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning 22-20, 21-19 to claim the women’s doubles title.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Loh Kean Yew (Sgp) 17-21, 21-15, 21-14
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ind) 18-21, 21-17, 21-16
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 21-11, 17-21, 21-19
Women’s doubles: Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) 22-20, 21-19
Mixed doubles: Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 17-21, 21-12, 21-12
