Saina Nehwal and Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus won the Australian Open Badminton Superseries titles in Sydney on Sunday.
Former world No.1 Nehwal fought back from a game down to overhaul China's Sun Yu. Nehwal, ranked eight, showed her trademark fighting qualities to beat the 12th-ranked Sun, 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 in 71 minutes.
Nehwal, 26, claimed her second Australian Open title, her 22nd career title and her first Superseries tournament since winning in India in March last year. Nehwal's retrieval game was outstanding as she wore down the tall 22-year-old Chinese to win on her second championship point in the third game.
In the men's singles final, Vittinghus defeated South Korean Jeon Hyeok-Jin to win his first Superseries title. The 30-year-old Dane, ranked 12, finished strongly to beat Jeon 21-16, 19-21, 21-11 in 71 minutes. He became the first Dane to win a Superseries tournament in two years.
Vittinghus sunk to his knees on claiming the title after coming up short winning the Superseries Masters final to China's Chen Long in Dubai in 2014.
Chen, the world No.2, was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open by Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Friday.
BAI announces award
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) today announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for Saina Nehwal for winning the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney.
“I congratulate her for this marvellous victory. This is another milestone in her career. This win will surely motivate her for the most important Rio Olympics where she is leading the Indian Badminton contingent. I also congratulate her coach Vimal Kumar and support staff, who have been on their toes to bring out the best of Saina,” BAI President Akhilesh Das Gupta said.
Comments
SHARE