Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi yesterday won the men’s singles final of the India Open, surging past world No. 4 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in straight games to win his first title since 2024.
Following two disappointing runners-up finishes last year at the Orleans Masters and the China Masters, and a hard first-round loss to compatriot and world No. 5 Chou Tien-chen in the Malaysia Open earlier this month, Lin held on at the BWF Super 750 tournament in New Delhi to grab an early win for the year.
The 26-year-old world No. 12 Taiwanese defeated Christie 21-10, 21-18 in a speedy 38 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Arena in New Delhi, recording his second consecutive victory over the Indonesian. Lin most recently beat Christie at the China Masters in Shenzhen in September last year.
Photo: Reuters
Lin on Saturday beat Canada’s Victor Lai 21-9, before dropping the second 6-21, to emerge victorious from a tight back-and-forth third game 22-20.
After Saturday’s match, Lin said he and Lai trained together in Taiwan last year, adding that the Canadian was difficult to beat in practice.
Lin sustained a muscle strain earlier this month at the Malaysia Open that had made walking difficult, but insisted on playing in India, only the second time he has contended for a Super 750 title.
Lai said that Lin’s attacking power was difficult to defend against, even though he anticipated it.
The Canadian said nerves and fatigue affected his performance after a lengthy match the previous day.
At last year’s China Master’s, Lin missed out on his first Super 750 title with a 21-11, 21-15 loss to China’s Weng Hongyang in the final.
Lin won two Super 300 titles in 2024, the Taipei Open and the Swiss Open, as well as the Thailand Masters in 2023 and the US Open in 2019.
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