Taipei: South Korea’s World No. 12 Sung Ji Hyun ended her 3-year title drought by beating World No. 9 Michelle Li of Canada 21-11, 21-9 to win her fourth Chinese Taipei Open title on Sunday.
Facing an aggressive attacking play from Michelle Li, Sung who won the same tournament in 2011, 2013, and 2014 admitted she was a little nervous at the beginning of the final. Fortunately, she was well prepared and was able to make necessary adjustments to down Li.
“I was playing two three-set matches in second around and the quarter-final, because I was impatient and wanted to win very badly, which resulted in making more mistakes. Fortunately, I managed to stay calm and collected in the next two matches,” said Sung.
The Chinese Taipei was Sung’s first final of the season and first title in three years after she last won the 2016 Korean Masters on December 2016. Sung pointed out that due to some injuries, her performance was affected. She has been working on strengthening her physical strength and her fitness condition has improved recently.
On the other hand, Michelle Li was not satisfied with her performance in the final. She stressed that there were still many rooms for her to improve.
“I hope that I can perform better when I come back to the Chinese Taipei Open next time,” said Li.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet took home the mixed doubles title after seeing off Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung 21-18, 21-10 while the women’s doubles final was as hair-raising, nerve-racking affair as Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand needed 84 minutes to edge past Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong of Korea 21-19, 18-21, 28-26.
