Sydney: World No. 1 Chen Long of China came through a thrilling three-set victory over dark horse Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 21-12, 14-21, 21-18 to win the Australian Open men’s singles title on Sunday.
Chen Long won the first set with relative ease, forcing Viktor Axelsen to make errors through his shot precision and his tremendous technical skills. Viktor Axelsen stormed back after a slow start to turn the table on Chen Long in the second set when he fought from 5-10 deficits to take the lead at 14-10. Viktor was then able to capitalize on the momentum shifts to force a decider. In the third set, it was a neck and neck battle until 12-12 before Chen Long opened the decider with more aggression and never looked back, closing out the victory in 77 minutes.
The Australian Open was also Chen Long’s third Superseries title of the year.
Spain badminton star Carolina Marin laid down a marker for the Australian Open when she swatted away the challenge of Wang Shixian of China 22-20, 21-18 in the women’s singles final to win her third Superseries champion of the year, after the All England and Malaysia Open titles.
Reginald Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong battled for three grueling set in Australian Open mixed doubles final, defeating 4th seeds Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin of China 21-19, 19-21, 21-15 to capture their first ever Superseries title.
The 5th seeds Ma Jin/Tang Yuanting of China thrilled a huge crowd at the stadium on Sunday with the fightback which scored their Superseries victory against compatriots Tang Jinhua/Tian Qing 21-19, 16-21, 22-20 to take Australian Open women’s doubles title.
Meanwhile, world No.1 men’s pair Lee Yong-dae/ Yoo Yeon-seong were never in trouble and didn’t face any real threats from Lu Kai/Liu Cheng of China in the men’s doubles final. The Korean saw off the Chinese pair 21-16, 21-17 to retain their Australian Open men’s doubles title.
