Chinese shuttlers bag three Malaysia Masters titles

AFP

Chinese shuttlers bagged three titles at the Malaysia Masters on Sunday after Chen Yufei added the women's singles championship to those of the women's doubles and mixed doubles, the finals of which were between Chinese pairs.

As the world's top women's shuttler, Chen dominated her opponent, Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei, 21-17, 21-10 in a 37-minute match, with Tai blaming her frequent mistakes for the defeat.

Chen overtook Tai to become the world No.1 for the first time at the end of last year, but she said she was not particularly concerned about the rankings.

"It doesn't make you better by only ranking first," she said, adding that she will try to keep her current momentum to maintain her confidence.

Women's doubles pair Li Wenmei and Zheng Yu outclassed compatriots Du Yue and Li Yinhui 21-19, 16-21, 21-19 despite the latter putting up stiff competition over the 82-minute match.

Mixed doubles top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong beat fellow Chinese Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping 21-19, 21-12.

Another Chinese pair Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen came up short against South Korean veterans Kim Gi-jung and Lee Yong-dae, who won 21-14, 21-16 to take the men's doubles title.

The Chinese duo was obviously upset about their performance. "We played very bad today," said Liu. "The shuttle was quick today, our opponents always held on to their positions in the front court and played proactively. It's a good lesson for us."

In the men's singles, Japan's world No.1 Kento Momota continued his dominance by defeating Viktor Axelsen despite a serious challenge from the Dane.

Axelsen almost came from behind in the first game. He won a net play when holding game point but was declared a foul. Momota then won the game 24-22 before taking the second 21-11.