The first final at the Indian Open Super Series 2013 was the mixed doubles final between Indonesia’s TONTOWI/ LILIYANA and the ROK’s Ko Sung Hyun/ Kim Ha Na. The excellent serves and serve returns of the Indonesians kept the Koreans on the back foot from the start and TONTOWI/ LILIYANA took the match with ease 21-16,21-13.

 

In the final of the mixed doubles, top seeds TONTOWI/LILIYANA faced the ROK’s Ko Sung Hyun/ Kim Ha Na. Ko/Kim recently beat China’s Zhang Nan/ Zhao Yun Lei, showing that they can play brilliantly, but against the highly experienced Indonesian pair they were well out of sorts. The Indonesians served and received serve brilliantly, leaving Ko/ Kim no choice but to hit the shuttlecock up into the air. Opportunities for Ko to use his deadly smash were few and far between. It can be said that LILIYANA was the key to victory and the skills she showed in front of the net to keep her opponent pinned down were impeccable, allowing TONTOWI to attack at will from the rear of the court. TONTOWI/LILIYANA  took the match 21-16,21-13 to take their second Super Series title this year.

 

Ko Sung Hyun/ Lee Yong Dae were up against Liu Xiao Long/ Qiu Zi Han of China in the men’s doubles. The first game went to deuce and was taken by the ROK pair 20-22. The second game was also close and, at one stage, Ko/ Lee were level at 17-17 but Liu/ Qiu were able take the second game 22-20, and go on to take the deciding game 21-18 to take the title. 

 

In other matches, in the men’s singles Lee Chong Wei saw off Japan’s Kenichi Tago  but only after a hard fight, winning the match 21-15,18-21,21-17 to add another title to his extensive collection. In the women’s singles, Thai prodigy Ratchanok Inthanon dealt with Germany’s Juliane Schenk in straight games to take her first Super Series singles title. In the women’s doubles, Japan’s Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna came from behind impressively to beat Danes Pedersen/ Juhl.

 

( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )