Resurgent Son wins Hong Kong Open title

Son Wan-ho yielded 12 points in a row in the first game against Kenta Nishimoto before finding his form after the first break to win 14-21, 21-17, 21-13 in 89 minutes.

Published : Nov 18, 2018 18:20 IST

Son Wan-ho with the Hong Kong Open title.
Son Wan-ho with the Hong Kong Open title.
lightbox-info

Son Wan-ho with the Hong Kong Open title.

Son Wan-ho won his first tournament in two years on Sunday after the 30-year-old snatched the Hong Kong Open from Japan's Kenta Nishimoto, whose teammate Nozomi Okuhara triumphed in the women's finals.

RELATED | Okuhara wins maiden Hong Kong Open title

The Korean sixth seed, who stunned Japanese world number one Kento Momota in the semis, yielded 12 points in a row in the first game before finding his form after the first break to win 14-21, 21-17, 21-13 in 89 minutes.

Nishimoto kept up the energy but Son pulled away at 13-12 in the decider after the Japanese player knocked two shots into the net.

Son has now won five of the pair's seven encounters this year for his first tournament victory since his December 2016 homeground win.

“I feel very happy... in the second game I felt my opponent was very tired, so I needed to work then to get through the tough part (of the match),” he said.

Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino won 21-18, 21-14 in 46 minutes over their second-ranked Chinese opponents in the mixed doubles finals.

Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda take on the Indonesian top seeds in the men's in the day's final match.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment