Jonatan Christie (Photo by WIL)
Indonesian Jonatan Christie upset top seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark to capture the Korean Open badminton men’s singles title.
The 28-year-old shuttler, who had quit the Indonesian national to go independent, overcame Antonsen 21-10, 15-21, 21-17 in a match that lasted 75-minutes.
It was Jonathan’s sixth win over Anderson in 11 meetings and ensured him his first title of the year. Jonatan also made the Indonesian Masters in January, but was beaten in the final by Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
The match started very evenly, but was then interrupted for a good five minutes at 5-5 as Antonsen was bleeding from his elbow and could not make it stop. He bandaged the elbow, but it clearly bothered him.
There was also an upset in the women’s singles competition. Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi put on a strong display to upstage South Korean ace An Se Young 18, 21-13.
Yamaguchi’s win broke a streak of seven tournament victories this season amassed by Se Young. The Korean,m who is the reigning Olympic gold medalist, also won the prestigious All England Open. She settled for bronze in her title defense at the world championships in Paris last month but then bounced right back to win the China Masters last week.
Se Young, who previously won the Korea Open in 2022 and 2023, was going for a second consecutive win and had not dropped a game en route to the final.
She dropped to 14-15 all time against Yamaguchi, losing to the Japanese veteran for the first time in four matches this year.
RESULTS
Men’s Singles: Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-10, 15-21, 21-17
Men’s doubles: Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae (Kor) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) 21-16, 23-21
Women’s Singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt An Se Young (Kor) 21-18, 21-13
Women’s Doubles: Kim Hye-young-Kong Hee Yong (Kor) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-19, 21-12
Mixed Doubles: Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (Chn) bt Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chn) 25-23, 21-11
