Basel: Japan’s World No. 37 Koki Watanabe may have been happy going under the radar at this year’s Swiss Open but he’s going to start receiving a lot of attention from other teams after his stunning victory over World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the final of the Swiss Open on Sunday.
Highlights of Chou Tien Chen vs. Koki Watanabe in the 2023 Swiss Open final:
The Japanese came from 11-17 in the first game to win the first set 22-20. Chou was trailed 12-16 in the second game, but he wouldn’t go down without a fight as Chou reeled off 5 consecutive points to lead at 17-16 and claimed the second game 21-18.
Nevertheless, Watanabe injected high speed into the decider, hence, forcing Chou into playing defense and making a lot of errors. Watanabe scored the match point when Chou’s serve was too strong and out of bounds while Watanabe eventually won his first Super 300 title with a score of 21-12 in the third set.
This was Watanabe’s first BWF World Tour title since winning the 2019 Orléans Masters.
In mixed doubles, Malaysia’s World No. 11 Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai were giving the World No. 33 Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin of China an amazing amount of fight. However, the Chinese pair seemed to be more decisive in the crucial moment to win their second title in second week by beating Goh/Lai 21-17, 19-21, 21-17. Jiang/Wei also won the Ruichang China Masters last Saturday by beating Cheng Xing/Chen Fang Hui 21-15, 21-8.
Highlights of Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai vs. Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin
India’s men’s doubles No. 2 seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty fended off a surprise challenge from Ren Xiang Yu/Tan Qiang of China in the second set, to clinch the Swiss Open title with a 21-19, 24-22 win.
Earlier Sunday, Japan’s Rena Miyaura/Ayako Sakuramoto didn’t break a sweat when their opponents Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota provided a walkover in the women’s doubles final.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong needed 48 minutes to overcome Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-16, 21-18 to win the women’s singles title.
