Taiwanese badminton player Chou Tien-chen (周天成) yesterday clinched the men’s singles title at the Korea Open, defeating Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in two straight sets.
World No. 4 Chou won 21-13, 21-16 against world No. 14 Sugiarto, 30, in a game that lasted only 39 minutes to secure his third title of the season.
Both players have beaten each other four times in their eight previous meetings, with Chou losing the most recent two before yesterday.
Photo: AFP
In the final, Chou came back from a 5-8 deficit to beat the Indonesian by unleashing a strong attack and adding seven points before taking the first set 21-13.
In the second set, Chou took the lead at the beginning before Sugiarto locked it up at 8, but Chou went on to retake the lead and finished 21-16.
The Korea Open, which has a purse of US$600,000, is a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 500 series tournament.
It was the third major title for Chou this year after he beat Ng Ka Long (伍家朗) of Hong Kong in March in the final of the German Open, a BWF Super 300 Series event, and compatriot Hsu Jen-hao (許仁豪) in July to win the men’s singles title at the Singapore Open, also a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.
Chou won silver after losing to Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the final of the men’s singles at the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in August.
Chou yesterday wrote on Instagram: “My heart is painful for the news of earthquake and tsunami. May God bless the people in Palu,” in response to the magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island on Friday, killing more than 800 people.
Chou’s badminton coach at National Keelung Senior High School was Indonesian-Taiwanese badminton player Victo Wibowo.
Additional reporting by Chuo Chia-ping
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