Carolina Marin, Viktor Axelsen win Thailand Open

The Thailand Open is the first of three consecutive tournaments in Bangkok culminating in the World Tour Finals from January 27.

Marin's win in Bangkok comes as a shot in the arm to the reigning Olympic champion who will seek to defend her crown in Tokyo this year, while Axelsen clinched his second title on the trot with the win in Bangkok.

Reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin beat top seed Tai Tzu-ying to claim the Thailand Open title in Bangkok on Sunday.

The former world number one has faced an uphill task to recover from a knee injury in January 2019 to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.

The first non-Asian women's player to clinch an Olympic gold, the Spaniard decisively won match point in the second set after beating her Taiwanese opponent 21-9, 21-16 in 42 minutes.

Fourth seed Viktor Axelsen battled a cold and eighth seed Angus Long to claim the men's title. The Denmark national took just 44 minutes to triumph 21-14, 21-14 over his opponent from Hong Kong.

Axelsen is on a charmed run ahead of the Tokyo Games, the Thai Open title being his second title on a trot after winning the All England Badminton Championship in mid-March last year.

Despite having a cold, fourth seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark was electric in the men's final against Hong Kong's Angus Long, ranked eighth, claiming the title in straight sets.

In the women's doubles final, Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Apriyni Rahayu beat home pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 21-15, 21-12, a record fourth title in Thailand for Polii.

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In the mixed doubles final, top-seeds Thais Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai beat Indonesia's Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti  21-3, 20-22, 21-18.

In the men's doubles, Taiwan's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin beat Malaysia's Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong 16-21, 23-21, 19-21.

(With inputs from AFP)