Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn spilt blood, sweat and finally tears on Sunday as he became badminton world champion after an attritional 19-21, 21-18, 21-7 victory over Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in Copenhagen.
The 22-year-old world number three, who was runner-up a year earlier, is the first Thai to win the men’s singles title at the BWF World Championships.
World No. 4 Naraoka, also 22, put Kunlavut through an excruciating match of marathon rallies that lasted 109 minutes — one of the longest men’s singles matches ever.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kunlavut’s blood had to be wiped off the court several times as he threw himself around to keep the shuttle alive in a series of lengthy rallies.
“I’m very happy, this has been a dream for me since I was a child,” Kunlavut said. “When I was young I’d promised my coach that I would get the gold medal. He passed away and I dedicate this gold medal to him.”
“I had three targets when I was young — Olympic Games, world championships and All England [championships]. Now I have achieved one of those, so two are left,” eh said.
It was the second longest world championships men’s singles final, eclipsed only by the 124-minute epic between China’s Sun Jun and Denmark’s Peter Rasmussen in the inaugural world championships in 1977.
“I needed to be prepared for a long match with Kodai,” Kunlavut said. “We know each other’s game, because we have played since our junior days. You have to be very patient with him, and it was very tiring, so I didn’t have any energy left to celebrate.”
World No. 1 An Se-young enjoyed a more straightforward march to the women’s singles title when she beat Spain’s Carolina Marin 21-12, 21-10 in the final.
The top seed, who becomes South Korea’s first women’s world champion in the 46-year history of the event, sped to the title in just 42 minutes.
“I am the champion. I am so happy today,” An said. “I think I played well today because I enjoyed myself out there. I had so much fun.”
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
RSS