Singapore: World No. 56 Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia who won the Singapore Open title in 2010, continued his fairytale run at the Singapore Open as the unseeded Indonesian knocked out World No. 10 South Korean Son Wan-Ho by winning the men’s singles title on Sunday and it was his first Super Series title in six years.
The 2004 Olympic Games bronze medallist Kuncoro, who shocked two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the semi-finals, won the first set 21-16.
Too much unforced errros cost Kuncoro the second set as he went down 13-21 to Son.
Kuncoro then regrouped fast in the third set to regain his rhythm, clinching the third set 21-14 and his second Singapore Open title.
“It’s really a big achievement for me, considering I started from the qualifying round and eventually won the tournament,” said Kuncoro.
“I’m glad I played well today,” added Kuncoro.
In women’s competition, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon clinched her third World Superseries titles in three weeks when she beat Chinese Sun Yu in the final of the Singapore Open on Sunday. Intanon took two titles on the trot before arriving in Singapore, winning the India Open (Superseries) and Malaysia Open (Superseries Premier) events.
The former world champion battled past world No. 14 Sun 18-21, 21-11, 21-14 in an hour and nine minutes. It was the 21-year-old’s fifth win in six meetings against Sun.
“Today I made many mistakes and so did my opponent but I managed to get back into the game earlier than her,” said Ratchanok.
“The victory gave me more confident to get win the Olympic gold medal in Rio,” added Ratchanok.
After winning the Singapore Open, Intanon is expected to shoot up the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking by clinching the world’s No. 1 spot in next week’s BWF rankings.
In the men’s doubles, fourth seeded Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan of China saw off Japan’s Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda 21-11, 22-20 in 42 minutes.
South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na knocked out China’s Xu Chen and Ma Jin 21-17, 21-14 in 40 minutes to claim the mixed doubles title.
In the women’s doubles final, Indonesia’s No. 2 seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii won the Singapore Open title without breaking a sweat after they got a walkover from No. 1 seeds Misaki Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan, due to an injury suffered by Misaki Matsutomo.
