Hong Kong: Indonesia’s World No. 6 Jonatan Christie ended his country’s 25-year title drought on Sunday with a thrilling 12-21, 22-20, 21-18 victory over Japan’s World No. 15 Kenta Nishimoto in the Hong Kong Open final.
Highlights of Jonatan Christie vs. Kenta Nishimoto in the 2023 Hong Kong Open final:
Christie’s victory was a major achievement for the Indonesian player, who had previously lost three consecutive matches to Nishimoto.
“I’m so happy to have won today,” Christie said. “It’s been a long time since an Indonesian player has won the men’s singles title here in Hong Kong.”
The women’s singles final saw Japanese badminton ace Akane Yamaguchi rebounded from her disappointment at the World Championships to win her fifth title of the year at the Hong Kong Open Super 500.
Yamaguchi, the top seed, defeated China’s Zhang Yiman 21-18, 21-15 in the women’s singles final to extend her winning streak against the Chinese player to four matches.
Highlights of Akane Yamaguchi vs. Zhang Yiman in the 2023 Hong Kong Open final:
The victory was a welcome boost for Yamaguchi, who had lost to Chen Yufei in the semifinals of the World Championships in August.
“I’m very happy that I won the tournament,” Yamaguchi said. “I’m looking forward to building on this success and continuing to play well in the future.”
Yamaguchi and Christie’s victories were particularly impressive, as they both showed great resilience to bounce back from recent disappointments.
Their victories will give them a lot of confidence heading into the Asian Games to be held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, where they will be hoping to lead their countries to success.
