Badminton World Championship: An Se Young, Vitidsarn bag singles crowns; Chen/Jia win record 4th women’s doubles title

Copenhagen (Denmark), Aug 27 : An Se Young of Korea Republic and Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand won the womens and mens singles titles while Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China won the womens doubles title for a record fourth time in the World Badminton Championship here on Sunday.

An Se Young defeated sixth seed Carolina Marin of Spain 21-12, 21-10 in 42 minutes in the womens singles final.

Vitidsarn, the third seed from Thailand, quelled a strong fight from Japans Kodai Naraoka, coming back after losing the first game to win 19-21, 21-18, 21-7 in the mens final that went on to one hour and 49 minutes.

In the womens doubles, defending champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan took a straight-game victory over Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia on Sunday, becoming the first womens pair to win four gold medals in the tournaments history.

The top seeds, playing their fourth final in six appearances at the worlds, took 41 minutes to wrap up the victory 21-16, 21-12, expanding their head-to-head record against the Indonesian duo to 5-1, reports Xinhua.

In the mixed doubles final held earlier, Chinas three-time champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong were defeated by South Koreas Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung to finish with silver medals.

The 25-year-old Seo has the chance to win another title in the tournament as he will pair with Kang Min-hyuk in the mens doubles final later.

Meanwhile, top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China missed their chance to win a record fourth World Championships mixed doubles title, losing to South Koreas Seo Seung-Jae and Chae Yu-Jung for the first time in 10 encounters.

Fifth-seeded Seo and Chae needed 59 minutes to claim the victory 21-17, 10-21, 21-18, while 25-year-old Seo has the chance to win another title, as he will pair with Kang Min-hyuk in the mens doubles final later.

The defending champions of China bounced back in the second game to pull the match into the decider.

They saved three match points from 20-15 in the third game, only to see Seos powerful smashing end their chances.

bsk