India Open Badminton: An Se Young, Lin Chun-Yi crowned women’s and men’s singles champions
New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA): Defending Champion An Se Young once again underlined her supremacy with a clinical demolition of China’s Wang Zhi Yi in the women’s singles final while Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei defeated third seed Jonatan Christie in straight games to clinch the men’s singles title in the India Open 2026, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event organised by the Badminton Association of India, in New Delhi on Sunday.
The world No. 1 Korean came out all guns blazing against the Chinese second seed to win 21-13, 21-11 in the women’s singles final, while Lin outclassed Christie 21-10, 21–18 in just 38 minutes to clinch his first BWF World Tour Super 750 title.
In the mixed doubles final, Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran saved four match points in the second game to defeat the Danish combination of Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 19-21, 25-23, 21-18.
China won both the women’s and men’s doubles titles in contrasting fashion. In the women’s doubles summit clash, Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning defeated Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto of Japan 21-11, 21-18, while Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang got the better of Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita of Japan 17-21, 25-23, 21-16 in the men’s doubles final.
But the star of the day was An Se Young, who had reached the women’s singles final without dropping a game, and it looked like the 23-year-old was not willing to let that streak slip up against a player who had come close to winning the second game against her in the Malaysia Open Super 1000 last month.
The Korean countered Wang’s deception with quality retrieving and a very tight net game that allowed her to attack more. This meant that Wang was always playing catch-up against an opponent she had managed to win just one game in the last six clashes. “Today, I was focused on playing more aggressively as she is a difficult player to beat. I am happy that I could execute the plans and win another title,” said An Se Young.
The men’s singles final also turned out to be a one-sided affair as the left-handed Lin’s relentless attacking unsettled Christie. The Taipei-shuttler took a 4-0 lead at the start and then never looked back as he raced from 10-5 to 18-5 in no time to pocket the opening game.
The second game saw Christie changing tactics and engaging his opponent in longer rallies. The ploy seemed to have worked as the Indonesian opened up a 14-10 lead and looked a lot more comfortable as the score read 18-15 in his favour.
But this was when Lin once again changed the pace of his play and grabbed five straight points to cap off a fantastic week for himself.
“Today I think I played well. I didn’t feel the pressure in the final. I wanted to enjoy the match and play in the moment. I got a leg injury in Malaysia, and hence I was not at my best, but my injury healed well, and I did well here,” said Lin.
Results:
Men’s singles: Lin Chun-Yi (TPE) bt 3-Jonatan Christie (INA) 21-10, 21-18
Women’s singles: 1-An Se Young (KOR) bt 2-Wang Zhi Yi (CHN) 21-13, 21-11
Women’s doubles: 1-Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning (CHN) bt 5-Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto (JPN) 21-11,21-18
Mixed doubles: 3- Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran (THA)
bt. Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje (DEN) 19-21, 25-23, 21-18
Men’s Doubles: 4-Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (CHN) bt Hiroki Midorikawa/Kyohei Yamashita (JPN) 17-21, 25-23, 21-16
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