An Se Young (File photo by By De-Shao Liu)
Korean starlet An Se-young claimed her record tenth women’s singles title of the season while Indonesian upstarts Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin claimed their first Super 500 crown at the Australia Open in Adelaide.
The eventful finals day also saw a resurgent Lakshya Sen of India winning his first men’s singles title of the season. Likewise world mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia also won their first World Tour title of the season.
Se-young defeated Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16, 21-14 with another dominating performance.
The victory saw her surpass the single-season women’s singles record of nine victories that she herself set in 2023.
The footprint Ahn Se-young has made this year is also astonishing. She entered a total of 15 international tournaments this year and won ten of them. She swept all three Super 1000 series tournaments: Malaysia Open, All England Open, and the Indonesia Open.
She even won five Super 750 series events including the India Open, Japan Open, China Open, Denmark Open and France Open. Including the Super 300 Orleans Masters, the title of ‘most wins in a season’ already seems insufficient.
The 24-year –old can still improve in her record, as she is also favoured to win the season ending World Tour Finals next month.
Meanwhile, Raymond-Nikolaus, who only forged their partnership earlier this year, picked up their first title with a hard fought 22-20, 19-21, 21-18 defeat of fifth seeded teammates Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shihibul Fikri.
The youngsters have signaled their entry into the top echelon of the men’s doubles by piecing together a string of impressive results in Adelaide. They defeated second seeds Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia in the semi-finals and world number five Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, also of Malaysia, in the quarter-finals.
In the men’s singles, India’s Lakshya Sen ended a long drought of titles, defeating Japanese Yushi Tanaka 21-15, 21-11 in one of the easiest finals he has pocketed.
It was Sen’s third Super 500 title, and he converted his second final of the year, after losing in Hong Kong.
World champions ChenTang Jie-Toh Ee Wei won their first World Tour title since the Korean Open in August last year, defeating second seed Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu of Indonesia 21-16, 21-11.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Lakshya Sen (Ind) bt Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) 21-15, 21-11
Men’s doubles: Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shihibul Fikri (Ina) 22-20, 19-21, 21-18
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 21-16, 21-14
Women’s doubles: Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) bt Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Melisya Trias Puspitasari (Ina) 18-21, 21-19, 23-21
Mixed doubles: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu (Ina) 21-16, 21-11
