CHINESE TAIPEI OPEN 2015 Finals – 5 take 1st titles of 2015

Asian Games Champions Polii/Maheswari, along withand 2 former World Champions took their first titles of the Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

Finals day at the 2015 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold may have been short on drama – especially compared to the upset-heavy week in the island badminton powerhouse – but the results are just fine with Asian Games gold medallists Nitya Krishinda Maheswari / Greysia Polii (pictured), with former World Champions Wang Yihan and Fu Haifeng, and with Kim Ha Na.  All five players took their first titles of this calendar year in the last Grand Prix Gold event before the World Championships next month.

The Indonesians beat the world #3 Luo twins for the second time this year but this time it was for the title as they did one step better on the podium than they had done at home at the Indonesia Open last month.  Luo Ying and Luo Yu managed to win their first Superseries title this year, which the Indonesians have yet to do, but Polii and Maheswari will be aiming next for the world title at home in Jakarta before they will concern themselves with Superseries glory.

The women’s singles title, too, became the first title since the Asian Games gold medal as Wang Yihan actually won a rematch of that gold medal final in Incheon to begin proceedings on finals day in Taipei.  Li Xuerui (pictured) was never really in it as Wang took it in less than half an hour.

The shortest match of the day came in the men’s doubles, where another former World Champion, Fu Haifeng, went to the top of the podium for the first time since last year’s Denmark Open with new partner Zhang Nan (pictured).  For Zhang, of course, it was far from the first of this year as he has won 3 mixed titles already in 2015.

The pair who beat Zhang Nan, in his world #1 mixed doubles partnership with Zhao Yunlei, was also the pair who ended up with the title.  Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na beat compatriots Shin Baek Cheol and Chae Yoo Jung in straight games.

Ko and Shin will now go back to training together to defend their World Championship title, but not before teaming up at Korea’s Summer Championships.  Chae and Kim, too, will be playing on the same women’s team at the event, which will delay the three players, and the entire Korean national team, getting back to preparation for the Worlds.

The main event for the sizeable home crowd was obviously the men’s singles showdown between reigning World Champion Chen Long and home favourite Chou Tien Chen (pictured), who had just ousted the legendary Lin Dan in the semis.

Chou got off to a good start, taking the first game 21-15 but it was not to be his day of glory.  Chen bounced back and trounced Chou in the second and third games to take his first Chinese Taipei Open title.

Final results
WS: Wang Yihan (CHN) [6] beat Li Xuerui (CHN) [2]  21-10, 21-9
WD: Nitya Krishinda Maheswari / Greysia Polii (INA) [4] beat Luo Ying / Luo Yu (CHN) [2]  21-17, 21-17
XD: Ko Sung Hyun / Kim Ha Na (KOR) [7] beat Shin Baek Cheol / Chae Yoo Jung (KOR)  21-16, 21-18
MD: Fu Haifeng / Zhang Nan (CHN) [5] beat Gideon Markus Fernaldi / Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)  21-13, 21-8
MS: Chen Long (CHN) [1] beat Chou Tien Chen (TPE) [5]  15-21, 21-9, 21-6

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