Kumamoto Masters: Gregoria Mariska Tunjung makes history for Indonesia, ‘tired’ Viktor Axelsen wins first title since September
- Tunjung defeats Olympic champion Chen Yufei 21-12, 21-12 in Sunday’s women’s singles final
- World No 1 Axelsen beats Shi Yuqi 22-20, 21-17 to win men’s title but says he is ‘not feeling great’ for China Masters
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Gregoria Mariska Tunjung made history for Indonesia on Sunday by defeating China’s Chen Yufei in the inaugural Kumamoto Masters women’s final.
The 21-12, 21-12 win in Japan gave the sixth seed her second title on the Badminton World Tour, following her triumph at the Spain Masters in April.
She also became the first Indonesian women’s singles player to win a Super Series or World Tour Super 500 or above title.
Third seed Chen, the Tokyo Olympics champion, had ended South Korean top seed An Se-young’s 31-match unbeaten streak in the semi-finals.
But Tunjung said she “just tried my best to win every single point”.
“The key to the win today was my patience,” said the 24-year-old, who is ranked No 7 in the world.
“Chen Yufei also made a few mistakes and that helped me believe in myself more and believe that I could counter anything she threw at me.”
Men’s world No 1 Viktor Axelsen won his first title since September on Sunday in Japan but said he was “not feeling great” heading into the season’s final stretch.
The dominant Dane, who is set to celebrate two unbroken years atop the world rankings on December 1, beat China’s Shi Yuqi 22-20, 21-17 to capture the men’s title.
Axelsen said he was determined to celebrate his first success on the tour since the China Open and was putting the upcoming China Masters to the back of his mind for the moment.
“Going into the China Masters, I’m not feeling great, I’m very tired, I don’t want to think about it,” he told the Badminton World Federation.
“I have a rule that when you play a final and you’re done, you have to enjoy it so I’m not thinking about next week at all.”
Axelsen said he would “enjoy an extra piece” of sushi after beating number four seed Shi.
The Dane was also appearing in his first final since the China Open and he said he was happy with his performance in a match “played at a really high level”.
“Shi is a very strong opponent and I think if he had managed to win the first game, it could have gone either way today,” he said.
“I was really happy with how composed I stayed, especially at the end of both games.”
Hong Kong pair Tang and Tse end 4-year wait for badminton title
The three doubles finals were all contested by Chinese players.
Top mixed doubles seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong beat number three pair Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping 25-23, 21-9.
In women’s doubles, number 3 seeds Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu beat Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning 12-21, 21-12, 21-17.
And in men’s doubles, He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu got the better of Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi 21-14, 15-21, 21-15.
