Ho Chi Minh City: World No. 38 Sourabh Verma who won the Hyderabad Open (August 11) and Slovenia International (May 18) this year, fought back from dropping the second set to claim the Vietnam Open on Sunday.
Facing China’s 21-year-old Sun Fei Xiang, Verma quickly got ahead with 4-0 and 11-4 at the interval before winning the first set 21-12.
However, the 2016 World Junior Champion Sun Fei Xiang went into all-out attack mode, charging ahead with 8-0, and 11-5 at the interval, before forcing a decider with a 21-17 second set victory.
The experienced Verma was leading at 11-7 in the decider before wrapping up the BWF Super 100 event with 21-14.
After Vietnam Open, Verma will be playing at the Korea Open to be held from September 24 to September 29.
In women’s singles, China’s 22-year-old Zhang Yi Man comfortably eased past the challenge from Asuka Takahashi of Japan 21-18, 21-11 in 37 minutes to win the Vietnam Open title.
Prior to Zhang, China already pocketed the mixed doubles title when unseeded Guo Xin Wa/Zhang Shu Xian pulled off an upset to down No. 6 seeds Lee Jhe-huei/Hsu Ya Ching of Taiwan 18-21, 22-20, 21-8.
Indonesia’s women’s doubles No. 1 seeds Della Destiara Haris/Rizki Amelia Pradipta dominated the final by seeing off Huang Jia/Zhang Shu Xian 21-18, 21-17 in 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, Korea’s men’s doubles No. 3 seeds Choi Solgyu/Seo Seung Jae finally won their first international title as a pair when they defeated compatriots Na Sung Seung/Wang Chan 18-21, 21-16, 21-14.
