China's badminton players showcased their strength by securing four out of five individual titles at the Singapore Open on Tuesday.
Champion An Se Young (R) and runner-up Chen Yufei pose on the podium after the women's singles final between An Se Young of South Korea and Chen Yufei of China at the Singapore Badminton Open 2024 in Singapore, June 2, 2024. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua)
The badminton powerhouse had a chance to win every event, but Olympic champion Chen Yufei was defeated by world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea 21-19, 16-21, 21-12 in the women's singles final.
In the 90-minute men's singles encounter, world No. 2 Shi Yuqi recovered from one set down, defeating his teammate and newly-crowned Asian Games champion Li Shifeng 17-21, 21-19, 21-19.
The victory marked Shi's third singles title this season after the India Open and French Open. His recent performance positions him as a strong contender for Olympic gold in Paris this summer.
In the mixed doubles, world No. 1 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong beat Chinese Taipei's Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang 21-11, 21-19 in just 30 minutes, while Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan won the women's doubles by defeating Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chidaru Shida 21-15, 21-12.
Later on Sunday, the young Chinese pair He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu beat Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-19, 21-14 to clinch the men's doubles title.