Tai wins OUE Singapore Open
Women's singles world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying beat Spain's Carolina Marin 21-15, 21-15 to win the OUE Singapore Open on Sunday (April 16).
The Taiwanese shuttler took just 38 minutes to beat the world No. 2 player at the Indoor Stadium, after clinching an epic 23-25, 22-20, 21-13 victory over the same opponent in the Malaysia Open final the Sunday before.
The Singapore Open win was Tai's fifth title in as many tournaments, a streak that started with the Hong Kong Open last November.
Tai, 22, said: "I don't feel anything special (about my achievement). I just hope that everyone feels happy when they see me play, and that they will want to cheer me on. I really enjoy playing in the competition."
The reigning All England champion said she controlled the match against Marin better than how she did in her 21-19, 21-15 semi-final win over Zhang Beiwen on Saturday, while Marin was eager to "kill" her off.
On the other hand, reigning Olympic champion Marin was "disappointed" with her performance.
The 23-year-old said: "I couldn't keep my focus and was so negative on court."
Meanwhile, Denmark's women's doubles pair Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen avenged their Olympic final loss last August by beating Olympic champions Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 21-18, 14-21, 21-15 to win the Singapore Open.
Juhl, 33, said: "It was an amazing match. We always love to play finals, and always love to play the Japanese girls. We talked about enjoying this final and we really did.
"We started on a good side of the court, when we have the drift behind us. We had a really strong attack when we played on that side."
The duo's countrymen Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen clinched the men's doubles title after beating China's Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen 21-13, 21-14, while India's Sai Praneeth beat his teammate Srikanth Kidambi 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 to take the men's singles crown.
In addition, All England champions Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong of China lived up to their billing when they beat Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 to win the mixed doubles crown.
The Singapore Open win was the world No. 2 duo's third crown from five finals this year.
Huang, 23, said: "I feel that our performance this year has been very consistent since the German Open at the start of the year. This consistency is what we didn't have in the past, and it's proof that we're improving.
Lu, 25, added: "We had many ups and downs in our performances in the last few years, but we've been a lot more consistent since our first competition this year.
"This has in turn boosted our confidence."
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