World Tour Finals: Antonsen, Tai emerge winners in nail-biting finals

Antonsen denies Axelsen a third tournament victory in three weeks; Tai stops Marin’s bid for yet another title.

Tai Tzu-ying won the women’s badminton World Tour Final on Sunday.

Top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying won the women’s badminton World Tour Final on Sunday, beating reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin’s bid for a hat-trick of titles in three weeks.

Marin won the opener 21-14 but Tai fought back to take the second game 21-8.  The decider was filled with fast and furious rallies but two late spectacular drop shots were critical in sealing Tai's victory 21-19.

 

 

In the all Danish men’s singles final, Viktor Axelsen, ranked fourth, lost the first game 16-21 but drew level by bagging the second game 21-5. But in the decider, Anders Antonsen had all the right answers, triumphing 21-17 to claim the game and the hour-long match against an increasingly ruffled Axelsen.

 

The women’s doubles was an all-Korean showdown with fourth-ranked Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan pushing sixth-ranked Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong to three games over 92 minutes. Lee and Shin lost the first game 15-21 before claiming the second 26-24. They then won the decider 21-19.

 

In men’s doubles, seventh-ranked Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin won their third title in three weeks. They beat Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-17, 23-21.

The results (finals): Men: Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Viktor Axelsen (Den) 21-16, 5-21, 21-17; Doubles: Lee Yang & Wang Chi-Lin (Tpe) bt Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 21-17, 23-21. Women: Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) bt Carolin Marin (Esp) 14-21, 21-8, 21-19; Doubles: Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan (Kor) bt Kim So-yeong & Kong Hee-yong (Kor) 15-21, 26-24, 21-19.