Four of the five winners at the Yonex French Open emerged triumphant at the Bitburger Badminton Open yesterday.
China’s Shi Yuqi (Men’s Singles), He Bingjiao (Women’s Singles), Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan (Women’s Doubles) and Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen (Mixed Doubles) repeated their success from the previous week in Paris at Saarbrucken. The only non-Chinese winners were Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi in Men’s Doubles.
The Malaysians beat local pair Michael Fuchs/Johannes Schoettler 21-16 21-18 in 40 minutes. In the semi-finals, Ong/Teo overcame stiff resistance from Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling/Wang Chi-Lin 21-16 18-21 21-17, while Fuchs/Schoettler also prevailed in three games over Denmark’s Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Shi Yuqi (featured image) came through his Men’s Singles final in straight games over India’s Saurabh Verma, but the contest was close all the way, with the Chinese edging through 21-19 22-20. A day earlier, Shi had beaten Saurabh’s younger brother Sameer 21-18 21-15, while Saurabh had stopped Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-15 21-18.
He Bingjiao’s dream season continued as she picked up the Women’s Singles title over Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 21-11 21-18. In fact, the only game He dropped all week was in the semi-finals against Jindapol’s compatriot Busanan Ongbamrungphan – the Chinese getting through 18-21 21-18 21-18. Jindapol had three-game victories in her first three matches before upsetting compatriot Porntip Buranaprasetsuk in straight games in the semi-finals.
Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan overcame a doughty semi-final challenge from Indonesia’s Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah/Rizki Amelia Pradipta before easing past Thailand’s Rawinda Prajonjai/Jongkolphan Kititharakul 21-12 21-19 in the Women’s Doubles final. The Thais had earlier recorded a 21-11 18-21 21-18 defeat of China’s Huang Dongping/Li Yinhui in their semi-final.
In the Mixed Doubles final, Zheng/Chen held off a late challenge from England’s Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock 21-16 23-21, winning the title without dropping a game.
The Adcocks had earlier featured in a quarter-final thriller against China’s Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping, winning 21-16 18-21 23-21. The top seeds then vanquished Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing 21-15 21-18 in the semi-finals.
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