The Korea Masters in Gwangju was just that: a master class from four Korean victors in the five competitions: Wan Ho Son in Men’s Singles; Sol-Gyu Choi and Seung Jae Seo in the Men’s Doubles; Ye Na Chang and Kyung Eun Jung in Women’s Doubles and Sung Hyun Ko and Hye Won Eom in the Mixed Doubles.
So dominant were the Korean entries that the women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles finals were all-Korean affairs.
The only non-Korean winner was China’s Xuerui Li in the Women’s Singles final, defeating teammate Yue Han, 21-10, 21-18.
The final tournament on the BWF World Tour schedule for 2018 will be the $1,500,000 HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou (CHN) in two weeks. Summaries from Gwangju:
BWF World Tour Korea Masters
Gwangju (KOR) ~ 27 November-2 December 2018
(Full results here)
Men’s Singles: 1. Wan Ho Son (KOR); 2. Zii Jia Lee (MAS); 3. Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG) and Sitthikom Thammasin (THA). Semis: Son d. Lee, 21-19, 21-14; Lee d. Thammasin, 4-1, withdrew. Final: Son d. Lee, 21-16, 21-11.
Men’s Doubles: 1. Sol-Gyu Choi/Seung Jae Seo (KOR); 2. Li-Wei Po/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE); 3. Ching Yao Lu/Po Han Yang (TPE) and Sa Rang Kim (KOR)/Boon Heong Tan (MAS). Semis: Choi/Seo d. Lu/Yang, 14-21, 21-11, 21-14; Po/Wang d. Kim/Tan, 21-18, 12-21, 21-17. Final: Choi/Seo d. Po/Wang, 21-12, 17-21, 21-18.
Women’s Singles: 1. Xuerui Li (CHN); 2. Yue Han (CHN); 3. Jin Wei Goh (MAS) and Hyo-Min Kim (KOR). Semis: Li d. Goh, 23-21, 10-21, 21-14; Han d. Kim, 19-21, 21-13, 21-9. Final: Li d. Han, 21-10, 21-18.
Women’s Doubles: 1. Ye Na Chang/Kyung Eun Jung (KOR); 2. So Hee Lee/Seung Chan Shin (KOR); 3. Yulfira Jauza/Fadhila Sugiarto (INA) and Ha Na Baek/Hye Rin Kim (KOR). Semis: Chang/Jung d. Jauza/Sugiarto, 21-10, 21-16; Lee/Shin d. Jauza/Sugiarto, 21-4, 22-24, 21-7. Final: Chang/Jung d. Lee/Shin, 21-14, 21-17.
Mixed Doubles: 1. Sung Hyun Ko/Hye Won Eom (KOR); Sol-Gyu Choi/Seung Chan Shin (KOR); 3. Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti (INA) and Hee Chun Mak/Hoi Wah Chau (HKG). Semis: Choi/Shin d. Jordan/Oktavianti, 22-20, 18-21, 21-17; Ko/Eom d. Mak/Chau, 20-22, 21-11, 21-10. Final: Ko/Eom d. Choi/Shin, 21-12, 15-21, 21-18.
