Kunlavut, An Seyoung emerge champions at India Open

PTI, Jan 22, 2023, 6:11 PM IST

Image credit: @BAI_Media / Twitter

New Delhi: Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Korea’s An Seyoung emerged champions at the India Open after stunning wins over two-time world champions Viktor Axelsen and Akane Yamaguchi in their men’s and women’s singles finals, respectively, here on Sunday.

Kunlavut beat Olympic champion Axelsen of Denmark 22-20, 10-21, 21-12 in 64 minutes to claim his maiden Super 750 tournament title, while An saw off world No. 1 Yamaguchi 15-21 21-16 21-12 in the women’s singles summit showdown.

World No. 11 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang came out as the winners in men’s doubles after seeing off star Malaysian third seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 14-21 21-19 21-18 in the final for their second World Tour title following the triumph at Japan Open last year.

The other two doubles matches didn’t happen following two withdrawals, both featuring Chinese pairs, on the final day of the tournament due to ill health.

Wang Yi Lyu, who was due to play the mixed doubles final with Huang Dong Ping, and Chen Qing Chen, who was to feature in the women’s doubles final with Jia Yi Fan, reported sick. They were suffering from diarrhoea and withdrew from their respective matches.

Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino won the mixed doubles title, while Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, also from Japan, claimed the women’s doubles crown.