South Korean ace An Se-young continued her winning ways in the new year clinching the women\u2019s singles title at the Malaysian Open badminton championships in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top ranked 24-year-old overcame a strong challenge from China\u2019s Wang Zhiyi to claim her third consecutive title in Malaysia with a 56-minute 21-15, 24-22 victory in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She trailed 1-6 early in the first set but regained control with her tenacious defense and sharp attacks, overturning the deficit to win the set 21-15. In the second set, she fell behind 13-19 but held off Wang Ziyi\u2019s fierce attacks with a web-like defense, forcing errors to level the score at 19-19. After a tense deuce battle, she sealed the 24-22 victory with a powerful smash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The win extends Se-young\u2019s career win-loss record to 17-4 against Zhiyi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was, however, an unexpected end to men\u2019s singles top seed Shi Yuqi of China, who was forced to retire in the final due to a right shoulder injury. He conceded the match to Thailand\u2019s Kunlavut VItidsarn trailing 21-23, 1-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vitidsarn\u2019s victory ends a 68-year drought for Thailand in the men\u2019s singles at the Malaysian Open. The last Thai player to win the title was Charoen Wattanasin in 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi YIk\u2019s hopes of giving Malaysia a title at home was denied by Korean top seeds Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae. The Koreans won the title with a 21-15, 12-21, 21-18 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FINAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s singles: <\/strong>Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 23-21, 6-1 rtd<\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s doubles:<\/strong> Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi YIk (Mas) 21-15, 12-21, 21-18<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s singles: <\/strong>An Se-young (Kor) bt Wang Zhiyi (Chn) 21-15, 24-22<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s doubles: <\/strong>Liu Shengshu-Tan ing (Chn) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-18, 21-12<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mixed doubles: <\/strong>Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Weiyayin (Chn) 21-19, 21-19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South Korean ace An Se-young continued her winning ways in the new year clinching the women\u2019s singles title<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-7834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-badminton"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t