BIRMINGHAM: Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie beat compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-15, 21-14 to win his first All England Open men’s singles badminton title in Birmingham on Sunday as Carolina Marin took the women’s crown.
Victory gave Christie his maiden Super 1000 win as the world number nine defeated close friend Ginting for the first time since 2019.
The 26-year-old had to withstand fightbacks from Ginting in both games before he took Indonesia’s first men’s singles title at badminton’s oldest major championship since 1994.
“I am very happy because we made history, the first all-Indonesia final after 30 years,“ said Christie. “I am the champion here and it is very important for me.”
Ginting, recalling his long association with Christie, said: “My first memory of Jonatan is our first day in the national team. We were the juniors, really young at the time, 16 or 17 years old.
“We were feeling shy and a bit scared with our seniors because we are young and it’s Asian culture, right? If there is no Jonatan today, there is no me today.”
There was more Indonesian success in the men’s doubles final, with Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto retaining their title following a 21-16, 21-16 victory over Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.
“We are so happy and excited that the Indonesia team got two titles at the most prestigious tournament in the world, we hope the achievement will carry on,“ said Alfian.
- Nine-year wait -
Marin, the 2016 Olympic women’s singles champion, ended a nine-year wait for a second title at the All England after Akane Yamaguchi was forced to retire.
The Spaniard was leading 26-24, 11-1 when her Japanese opponent withdrew because of a hip injury.
Marin, 30, needed a medical timeout in a marathon first game but recovered to win it against an injured Yamaguchi.
“At the beginning of the week, I had a hard conversation with my coach about the things that I have to improve,“ said Marin, whose main aim this year is the Olympics in Paris, starting in July.
“And this is what I did during the whole week. So this is why I feel really proud and of course I feel really, really happy to win my second All England after nine years.”
Yamaguchi, 26, had been involved in an energy-sapping three-game match with top seed An Se-young in the semi-finals and the clash with Marin was a step too far for the fourth seed.
“I wasn’t 100 percent in the first game, so I was trying to construct the rallies with what I could do,“ she said.
“If I won the first game, there would have been more chance for me to win the tournament, which would have made it difficult to make the decision to withdraw.
“I was finding it difficult to move so it was a difficult situation.”
South Korea’s Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee won the women’s doubles titles with a hard-fought 21-19, 11-21, 21-17 victory over 2022 champions Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan.
China’s Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong retained their mixed doubles title with a 21-16, 21-11 win over Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino. -AFP
