DUTCH OPEN 2013 – Grand Prix 1st x 4!

Wei Nan and three doubles pairs took their first Grand Prix titles in Almere yesterday while 17-year-old Busanan Ongbamrungphan was the only repeat Grand Prix winner.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

Finals day at the 2013 Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix started off with a very close match in mixed doubles.  Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto have spent most of the last year in the world’s top ten but have won only one Grand Prix title in their more than half-decade as a pair.  Danny Bawa Chrisnanta / Vanessa Neo (pictured) have been in the world’s top twenty for over a year but this Sunday afternoon in Almere, Netherlands marked their first appearance in a Grand Prix final.

The meeting of the top two seeds did not disappoint, either, as the Singapore pair got it right the first time, taking their inaugural Grand Prix title after edging Rijal/Susanto 25-23 in the second game.

Wei Nan (pictured) of Hong Kong kept the trend alive.  He was playing his compatriot Chan Yan Kit, whose own sole Grand Prix title, New Zealand in 2009, came at the expense of another Hong Kong player.

Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan then broke the trend as the 17-year-old got back to the top of a Grand Prix podium for the first time since her first success in Malaysia last year and left Gu Juan, her 2007 predecessor as Asian Junior Championship runner-up, to continue her long wait for her first major title.

The women’s doubles saw a first only for the pair, as both Bao Yixian and Tang Jinhua have tasted an enviable amount of international glory at the highest level even in their short careers.  Still, this was their first title together as they made quick work of another new pair, Anggia Shitta Awanda / Della Destiara Haris, in two straight games.

The men’s doubles final was logical in that it was fourth seeds Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira and Ade Yusuf who managed to take their first title.  But it was heartbreaking for their compatriots Berry Angriawan and Ricky Karanda Suwardi (pictured), who must have been able to taste victory after being denied in the London Final last weekend by the Olympic silver medallists.

This time, not only were they up against a much lower-ranked pair than most of their opponents last week but they also got tantalizingly close after winning the first game and then pulling out to a promising 18-16 lead late in the second.  It was not to be, however, as Arya Pankaryanira and Yusuf bounced back to claim the second game and then never relinquished the lead in the decider, en route to their own first Grand Prix title.

Final results
XD: Danny Bawa Chrisnanta / Vanessa Neo (SIN) [2] beat Muhammad Rijal / Debby Susanto (INA) [1]  21-19, 25-23
MS: Wei Nan (HKG) beat Chan Yan Kit (HKG) [8]  21-15, 21-18
WS: Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA) [2] beat Gu Juan (SIN) [3]  21-12, 21-12
WD: Bao Yixin / Tang Jinhua (CHN) beat Anggia Shitta Awanda / Della Destiara Haris (INA)  21-15, 21-7
MD: Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira / Ade Yusuf (INA) [4] beat Berry Angriawan / Ricky Karanda Suwardi (INA)  14-21, 21-18, 21-17

Click here for complete, detailed results