Chen fends off Lin to claim maiden Asian crown
Print Edition
RIO Olympic gold medalist Chen Long beat his Chinese teammate Lin Dan in the men’s singles final yesterday to win his first Badminton Asia Championship and boost his claims for a berth at the world championships.
The 28-year-old Chen had not won a tournament since last year’s Olympics but ended his barren run in timely fashion when he came from behind to beat Lin 21-23, 21-11, 21-10 in the final at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
It was his first win at the Asian championships, one of the few major tournaments to have eluded him, after he finished on the podium six times previously.
The victory may also help his prospects of competing at this year’s world championships in Glasgow, Scotland, where he would be gunning for a third successive title if selected.
He is currently ranked ninth in the world but there are three Chinese men ahead of him, including Lin. Under the qualifying rules for the world championships, countries can only enter four athletes if they are ranked in the top eight.
With the qualifying deadline having just expired, China can only enter three players in the men’s singles but the selections are up to the Chinese federation, which could ignore the rankings and still opt for Chen.
Lin, 33, beat Malaysia’s current world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in Saturday’s semifinals. But yesterday’s loss ended the bid by the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion for a record-equalling fifth Asian title, which would have matched the feat of Ye Zhaoying who won five women’s crowns in the 1990s.
Tai Tzu-ying provided Chinese Taipei with its first Badminton Asian champion when she won the women’s singles final.
The current world No. 1 took the gold when she beat Japanese teenager Akane Yamaguchi 18-21, 21-11, 21-18.
Japan’s Olympic champions Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi successfully defended their Asian women’s doubles title as expected, while China won the men’s and mixed doubles finals.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
