INDONESIA OPEN 2016 Finals – Korean men still dominating

Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong continued the Korean domination that has persisted over the past eight years in the men’s doubles competition of the Indonesia Open.

By Naomi Indartiningrum, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Lee Yong Dae / Yoo Yeon Seong got their second title in Jakarta, beating China’s Chai Biao / Hong Wei (pictured right) in three games.  The world #1 struggled a lot during the first game because their rivals were able to get on the attack from the beginning, while Lee/Yoo easily made a few errors and their defense was lacking.

Once into the second game, the two-time Asian Champions appeared strongly and start to dominate the match.  Chai/Hong, who were confident in the first game, started to lose that confidence after finding themselves unable to respond to repeated attacks by the Koreans.

“We were very nervous on the first game while our opponents keep attacking.  The wind is also hampered our performance today,” said Lee Yong Dae afterward.

In the third game, Lee/Yoo couldn’t be overtaken by the Chinese pair and left them behind by many points.  The last return by the Chinese sailed out and closed the match with glory for the most successful pair of 2015, for whom this was their first Superseries title of the year.

Lee and Yoo celebrated by throwing jersey and racket into the crowd, which was clearly behind them throughout the match.

“Usually when we play against them, it will be a very tough match but today we were able to apply our strategy very well.  Whenever we can win in a tournament, especially one like the Indonesia Open, it is really amazing,” said Lee Yong Dae.

“Many people were supporting us.  That’s why we need to say thank you by giving small appreciation like a jersey or racket,” Yoo added.

With this victory, Lee/Yoo succeed to added to their title collection this year.  This was their first Superseries title, but at the end of April, the world #1 already got a pair of slightly lesser titles, at the China Masters and Badminton Asia Championships.  In the last eight editions of the Indonesia Open, Korean pairs have appeared in 7 men’s doubles finals and won 5 of them.

Unfortunately for Korean supporters, Lee/Yoo’s victory wasn’t matched by their teammates, Ko Sung Hyun / Kim Ha Na.  Ko/Kim appeared strong during the semi-final, but had to admit the superiority of Xu Chen / Ma Jin (pictured) after battling in an intense three-game final.

During the match, Xu/Ma repeatedly forced Kim Ha Na to the back court while Ko was in charge for the front court.  This strategy really worked very well in the deciding game and allowed the Chinese pair to take the victory easily.

“Today’s match was very tough because the Koreans played very well and fast but in the third game we played very well and won the match.  In the second game, my rival played very fast.  That’s why I was struggling a bit and made some easy mistakes,” Xu said.

“From the beginning, our match was very tough but unfortunately we lost.  We had met our opponents several times but this time the condition and result was completely different and I’m not that satisfied with this result,” said Ko Sung Hyun, after falling to Xu/Chen for the first time since 2013.

With this result, the Indonesia Open recorded winners from 5 different nations.  This is already the second time this year that such a spread has occurred in a Superseries event, something that didn’t happen at all in 2015 or 2014.

Final results
WD:  Misaki Matsutomo / Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) [1] beat Tang Yuanting / Yu Yang (CHN) [3]  21-15, 8-21, 21-15
XD:  Xu Chen / Ma Jin (CHN) [5] beat Ko Sung Hyun / Kim Ha Na (KOR) [3]  21-15, 16-21, 21-13
MS:  Lee Chong Wei [2] beat Jan O Jorgensen (DEN) [5]  17-21, 21-19, 21-17
MD:  Lee Yong Dae / Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR) [1] beat Chai Biao / Hong Wei (CHN) [5]  13-21, 21-13, 21-16
WS:  Tai Tzu Ying (TPE) beat Wang Yihan (CHN) [4]  21-17, 21-8

Click here for complete results