Lee Yong Dae/Ko Sung Hyun Take Their Fourth Title in Succession!

At the 2013 VICTOR Korean Open Super Series Premier, South Korea’s Ko Jun Hyun/Lee Yong Dae beat Denmark’s BOE/MOGENSEN to take their fourth title in a row. Their female compatriot Sung Ji Hyun beat China’s Wang Shi Xian in straight games to claim a second title for the home team.

Lee Yong Dae/Ko Sung Hyun

In the men’s doubles final Ko/Lee faced the diverse attacking play of the Danes; the South Koreans made quite a few errors in the first game, going down 19:21. In the second game there were fierce to and fro exchanges from the middle of the court as the two pairs presented a high class match for the audience to savor. Ko/Lee successively defended against the Danes’ attacks and took back the initiative, taking the second game 21:13 to level the match. In the deciding game, Ko/Lee really found their groove while the Danes gradually lost their rhythm, Ko/Lee taking the game with relative ease, the score 21:10, to take the match and their fourth title in succession, an impressive feat indeed.

After the match, Lee said they faced a lot of pressure before the match and he and his partner are really pleased to have been able to win the title in front of a home crowd. Their serving and receiving was done quite well today he said, and this was the key to their victory. Ko said that he is, of course, really pleased to have won four titles in a row but he will celebrate for just one day as the next day they will fly to Malaysia for the Malaysian Open Super Series where they hope their winning streak can continue!

Sung Ji Hyun finds self-confidence in victory

In the final of the women’s singles Sung Ji Hyun faced one of China’s top players, Wang Shi Xian. At the 2010 final Sung was beaten by Wang 10-21, 23-25 and was determined not to be defeated again. At the start of the match, Wang stormed into a 6:2 lead but Sung kept her head and put the pre-match strategy of putting her opponent under pressure at the back of the court to exploit Wang’s relative attacking weakness into practice; this strategy was intended to, on the one hand, lower the quality of her opponent’s returns and, on the other, create attacking opportunities for herself. In the end Sung took the match 21:12, 22:20, taking revenge for the loss in 2010.

Sung Ji Hyun

After the match, Sung's coach Chen Gang said that they had focused on a few of Wang’s weak points before the match; Sung had thoroughly implemented their strategy so that Wang’s attacking threat was successfully neutralized and this was the key to Sung’s win; he also said that this match could be a breakthrough point for Sung as she found self-confidence in this match; he expressed the hope that she can put up another outstanding performance at the Malaysian Open to prove that she is a world-class player.

Winners of 2013 VICTOR KOREA OPEN

MS

MD

WS

WD

XD

In other disciplines, China’s Yu Yang/Wang Xiao Li beat their teammates Ma Jin/Tang Jin Hua 21-17,21-13 in the women’s doubles;in the mixed doubles, Zhang Nan/Zhao Yun Lei came from behind to beat Xu Chen/Ma Jin 13-21,21-16,21-13;in the men’s singles, Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei beat China’s Du Peng Yu 21-12,21-15 to take the title.

The 2013 VICTOR Korean Open Super Series Premier has come to an end and the next stop is the Malaysian Open Super Series (Jan.15-20). To find out the latest tournament news keep a close eye on the VICTOR official website at www.victorsport.com.tw

( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )