BADMINTON: Ginting & Marin make history in China Open

China’s history in badminton is one of achievement and it was no surprise that Chinese entrants won two of the five events at the Victor China Open in Changzhou this past weekend.

But the real shocks came in the other events, as steady, but unheralded Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia won the men’s Singles title and World Champion Carolina Marin (ESP) took the women’s Singles event.

Ginting, 21, came into the tournament ranked no. 13 in the world, but he beat some of the best players ever to top the podium. He was matched against 2008-12 Olympic champ Dan Lin (CHN) in the first round and won in straight sets, then excused no. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen (DEN) in the second round and faced 2016 Olympic champ Long Chen (CHN) in the quarters. No problem, as Ginting won in three sets, then managed a very tough match with Tien Chen Chou (TPE) in the semis in three sets before the final with Japan’s second-seeded Kento Momota. Ginting swept him aside in straight sets for his biggest win on the World Tour this year! He also proved that his bronze medal in the recent Asian Games was not a fluke. He’s one to watch; he’s the first Indonesian Singles winner in this tournament since 1994.

Marin was going for a similar honor; no Spanish player had ever won in the China Open, going all the way to its founding in 1986. In fact, no player outside of Asia had won the women’s Singles title in tournament history, but Marin dominated Yufei Chen (CHN) in straight sets to win the title.

There was more European success in the men’s Doubles, as Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) slipped past Chengkai Han and Haodong Zhou (CHN) for the first win by a Danish team in six years.

China’s Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang repeated as Mixed Doubles winners and second-seeded Misako Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi won the all-Japanese final in the women’s Doubles event, the first win ever for a Japanese pair in the event. Summaries:

BWF World Tour/Victor China Open
Changzhou (CHN) ~ 18-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA); 2. Kento Momota (JPN); 3. Tien Chen Chou (TPE) and Yuqi Shi (CHN). Semis: Ginting d. Chou, 12-21, 21-17, 21-15; Momota d. Shi, 21-10, 21-17. Final: Ginting d. Momota, 23-21, 21-19.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN); 2. Chengkai Han/Haodong Zhou (CHN); 3. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) and Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE). Semis: Han/Zhou d. Gideon/Sukamuljo, 21-19, 11-21, 21-17; Astrup/Rasmussen d. Chen/Wang, 21-13, 21-19. Final: Astrup/Rasmussen d. Han/Zhou, 21-13, 17-21, 21-14.

Women’s Singles: 1. Carolina Marin (ESP); 2. Yufei Chen (CHN); 3. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Marin d. Okuhara, 15-21, 21-12, 21-13; Chen d. Yamaguchi, 21-14, 15-21, 21-14. Final: Marin d. Chen, 21-18, 21-13.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 2. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 3. Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva (BUL) and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (POL). Semis: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Stoeva/Stoeva, 21-16, 21-12; Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Polii/Rahayu, 21-17, 12-21, 21-16. Final: Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Matsumoto/Nagahara, 21-16, 21-12.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN); 3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG) and Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN). Semis: Zheng/Huang d. Tang/Tse, 21-19, 21-15; Tang/Tse d. Wang/Huang, 21-10, 19-21, 21-14. Final: Zheng/Huang d. Zhang/Li, 21-16, 21-9.