Singapore: Indonesia's unseeded shuttler Tommy Sugiarto rallied to beat Thailand's defending champion Boonsak Ponsana in the men's singles final of the Singapore Open Super Series to clinch the title here on Sunday.
Sugiarto, 25, lost the first game 20-22 after saving two gamepoints as Ponsana, 31, was more patient. However, the two-time champion gave up in the second game after falling behind early. He managed to stay close in the third game but a ferocious Sugiarto forced more errors out of him to clinch victory 21-17, reports Xinhua.
"I was tired," Ponsana said, when asked about the collapse in the second game here at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Sugiarto said that when Ponsana tried to make him run around the court in the first game, he did the same to tire Ponsana out. The son of Indonesian badminton legend Icuk Sugiarto is in his best shape, having beaten top players including China's eighth-seeded Wang Zhengming and Vietnam's sixth-seeded Tien Minh Nguyen here as well as China's World No.2 Chen Long at Indonesia Open earlier this month.
"I improved a lot mentally, in terms of confidence. I know I have it in myself to beat good players," he said. He also said that being the underdog will allow him to be "relaxed and play as if (he) has nothing to lose" at the upcoming World Championships in Guangzhou, China, in August.
Some of the world's top players were absent in this year's men's singles event in Singapore, including Malaysia's World No.1 Lee Chong Wei, World No.2 Chen Long and Olympic champion Lin Dan.
China's Wang Yihan won the women's singles final in straight games against compatriot Li Xuerui 21-18, 21-12. Li, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, trailed behind Wang most of the time in the match.
China's women's doubles duo Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei won against Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 21-19, 21-16 to clinch the title.
Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan beat top-seeded South Korean duo Sung Hyun Ko and Yong Dae Lee in the men's doubles event in straight games while third-seeded Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir won against South Korea's Yeon Seong Yoo and Hye Won Eom.
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