FRENCH OPEN 2014 Finals – Historic Chou!

Another name was engraved in the list of Superseries winners with Chou Tien Chen pulling out a fantastic performance over Wang Zhengming to grab his first such title, doing it on Parisian soil.

By Tarek Hafi, Badzine Correspondent, live from Paris.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Today will probably remain a historic day for Chou Tien Chen.  The twenty-four year-old player for Taiwan, grabbed his first ever Superseries title after an hour and fifteen minutes of marvellous play in front of a packed Pierre de Coubertin stadium.

Not only is Chou personally the eighth player to have won his first Superseries in Paris, but his win is also a first for the Chinese Taipei team.  With the 8th year of the Superseries almost at and end, players from Taiwan had won titles in all four of the other disciplines but the island had waited until now to see one of their own top the podium in men’s singles.

However, in the early stages of the match, Chou Tien Chen looked petrified, practically unable to move to retrieve Wang Zhengming’s shots.  Despite the crowd’s several attempts at helping the Taiwanese player, Chou Tien Chen appeared way too tense to reply to the Chinese player’s solid game.

“I was really nervous in the first game and he was really fast.  I couldn’t follow him at first,” confessed Chou Tien Chen.

The Guangdong-born Wang Zhengming didn’t let his guard down and started the second game with the same consistency, before watching the challenger from Taiwan elevate his game, playing much more tactically and patiently.

Wang Zhengming was now facing a completely different Chou Tien Chen, much more confident and varying his shot to perfection.  With these new tactics adopted, Chou cleverly played his Chinese opponent at the net, looking very serene, even when he had two match points against him.

Huge crowd support for the underdog from Taiwan then kicked in, with spectators constantly shouting “Chou” and this proved to be effective as he held his nerves to take the second game 25-23 after a very tense prolongation.

“In the second game, I realized that I should give it my all, since this was my first Superseries final and I said to myself: if you really want to win, you have to push him harder and harder,” said Chou.

With regained confidence, Chou Tien Chen then commanded the final, taking a quick lead in the decider still benefiting from the huge crowd support given to him.

His pride hurt, Wang Zhengming attempted a comeback and gave Chou a scare but he failed against the great mental solidity showed by Chou Tien Chen, who went on to finish the decider and earn the championship title.

“It is completely unbelievable, I love this place, the support that I received as a Taiwanese is simply incredible, I will definitely come back here,” admitted Chou.

An explosion of happiness then happened on court as the twenty-four year-old man from Taiwan couldn’t leave the court, enjoying this precious moment with his best ally, the French crowd.