Line Christophersen
Japan and Chinese Taipei clinched two titles each at the US Open badminton championships with Dane Line Christophersen took the solitary win for the Europeans.
Second seeded Christophersen battled for almost an hour before she ovecame Bulgarian Kalayona Nalbantova 21-16, 16-21, 21-11 for her first women’s singles title on the Tour.
The 26-year-old, who made the quarter-finals of the prestigious All-England earlier this year, had lost in all of her previous five career final appearances on the BWF World Tour.
It was a repeat of the US Open quarter-finals last year when Nalbantova conceded the match in straight games.
In the men’s singles, Taiwanese Su Li Yang also claimed his first ever title on the Tour by defeating Indian veteran Srikanth Kidambi 21-15, 16-21, 21-9. The eight seeded Li Yang was only making his second ever final on the tour after having lost to Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo for the Taipeh Open title three years ago.
Li Yang had also beaten the higher ranked Indian at the Thailand Open last month.
Taiwanese shuttlers also won the mixed doubles title with Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui defeating Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun 21-9, 21-11 in an all-Taiwanese final.
Japan won both the other two doubles titles at stake.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Su Li Yang (Tpe) bt Kidambi Sritkanth (Ind) 21-15, 16-21, 21-9
Men’s doubles: Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Che Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh (Tpe) 21-18, 16-21, 21-16
Women’s singles: Line Christophersen (Den) bt Kaloyana Nalbantova (Bul) 21-16, 16-21, 21-11
Women’s doubles: Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) 21-16, 21-10
Mixed doubles: Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui (Tpe) bt Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) 21-9, 21-11;
