Shuttler Chong Wei scores a first in lopsided final

Posted by Lucas Liau Lee Chong Wei, News 12:31 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: National number one Lee Chong Wei gave a show of class to emerge as the first Malaysian to win the Singapore Open men's singles title at the republic's indoor stadium yesterday.

The world number two and top seed Chong Wei took only 29 minutes to crush Simon Santoso of Indonesia 21-13, 21-5 in one of the most lopsided men's singles finals in a Super Series event.

And Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari made it a more memorable outing for Malaysia by winning their first career men's doubles title – beating compatriots Gan Teik Chai-Woon Lin Fui 21-18, 21-17 in the final.

The day belonged to Chong Wei, who only faced some resistance from Simon for the first five minutes of the match. A 15-0 lead in the second game underlined Chong Wei total domination of the match.

“It was a good win for me. I remember, I was in the final here in 2004 but I let slip the chance to win the title then (losing to Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark). This time, I got it right,” said Chong Wei in a telephone interview from Singapore yesterday.

“I did not anticipate taking a huge lead against Simon. But I did not look down on him despite leading 15-love. I just stayed focused.

“The win does give me some confidence ahead of the Olympic Games. But I do not want to be over confident. There is so much work to be done to be better for the Beijing Olympics in August.”

Meanwhile, Chong Wei has decided not to move on to Jakarta for the Indonesian Open, which starts on Wednesday. The others who also withdrew are Wong Choong Hann and Wong Mew Choo.

But Zakry-Fairuzizuan will be making a bid for another good run in Indonesia.

Zakry said that it was a big relief that they finally won a first Open title after many failed attempts since he paired up with Fairuzizuan last year.

“I am happy that we took our chances well in the absence of many top players. In fact, this is my first Open title in my badminton career,” said Zakry, who dedicated the win to his father.

“But we do not want to win here and lose in the first round at the Indonesia. We want to be a consistent pair.”

In the women's singles, Denmark's Tine Rasmussen continued to show that she is now a serious Olympic title contender after winning her fourth Open title in Singapore yesterday. She defeated Hong Kong's Zhou Mi 21-19, 21-17.