Malaysia Open: Anders Antonsen Outclasses Shi Yuqi in Final to Win Title

Denmark’s Anders Antonsen clinched the Malaysia Open badminton men’s title on Sunday, outclassing China’s Shi Yuqi in the final.

A tired Shi, 27, had on Saturday beat badminton world number one and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a long and gruelling semi-finals.

“I’m still in shock. This is the biggest moment of my life,” said Antonsen.

“You cannot have it easy against this kind of performer,” he added about Shi.

The calm and energetic 26-year-old beat a lethargic-looking Shi 21-14, 21-13 in less than an hour.

The Dane exhibited powerful base line strokes and strong smashes throughout the 55-minute contest.

Shi, ranked world number six. meanwhile struggled to cope against Antonsen’s speed and determination to win.

World number nine Antonsen claimed the opening game thanks to a flurry of explosive smashes.

Antonsen continued to find gaps in Shi’s defence in the second game, and easily sealed victory as the packed fans roared to celebrate his amazing win.

The women’s singles title was won by South Korea’s An Se-young, who battled from a game down to beat Taiwanese Tai Tzu-ying 10-21, 21-10, 21-18.

In doing so, the world number one, An, became the first South Korean women’s singles shuttler to claim the Malaysia Open title.

Japan’s world number two pair Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino won the mixed doubles title after they overcame South Korea’s Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun 21-18, 21-15.

Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning triumphed in the all Chinese women’s doubles final after they downed compatriots Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu 21-18, 21-18.

China bagged a second title through their world number one men’s doubles pair Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang, who came from a game down to beat India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 9-21, 21-18, 21-17.