Despite the presence of two Olympic Champions in the field from China, it was Yuqi Shi who won the men’s Singles title at the Yonex Swiss Open in Basel, part of a Chinese sweep of the Single events.
Shi, ranked no. 2 worldwide, was the beneficiary of not having to face either Dan Lin or Long Chen – winners of the last three Olympic golds between them – as they were knocked out in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. But Shi had his hands full in the final with India’s Sai Praneeth B, finally winning in three sets after losing the first one.
In the women’s Singles, China’s Yufei Chen – also ranked no. 2 in the world – won against Japan’s Saena Kawakami, but in straight sets, 21-9 and 21-6.
Teams from Indonesia (men), Korea (women) and Denmark (mixed) won the Doubles titles. Summaries:
BWF World Tour/Yonex Swiss Open
Basel (SUI) ~ 12-17 March 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Singles: 1. Yuqi Shi (CHN); 2. Sai Praneeth B. (IND); 3. Anthony Ginting (INA) and Long Chen (CHN). Final: Shi d. Praneeth, 19-21, 21-18, 21-12.
Men’s Doubles: 1. Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Ardianto (INA); 2. Yang Lee/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE); 3. Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge (ENG) and Gi Jung Kim/Yong Dae Lee (KOR). Final: Alfian/Ardianto d. Lee/Wang, 21-19, 21-16.
Women’s Singles: 1. Yufei Chen (CHN); 2. Saena Kawakami (JPN); 3. Ji-Hyun Sung (KOR) and Beiwen Zhang (USA). Final: Chen d. Kawakami, 21-9, 21-16.
Women’s Doubles: 1. Ye Na Chang/Kyung Eun Jung (KOR); 2. Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida (JPN); 3. Wenmei Li/Yu Zheng (CHN) and Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva. Final: Chang/Jung d. Matsuyama/Shida, 21-16, 21-13.
Mixed Doubles: 1. Mathias Bay-Smidt/Rikke Soby (DEN); 2. Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Mentari (INA); 3. Ching Yao Lu/Chia-Hsin Lee (TPE) and Kai Lu/Lu Chen (CHN). Final: Bay-Smidt/Soby d. Rivaldy/Mentari, 21-18, 12-21, 21-16.
