Colombo: Malaysia’s former world No. 1 men’s doubles Koo Kien Keat & Tan Boon Heong turned the Sri Lanka International Challenge final into a grand occasion for themselves on Saturday, beating their younger compatriots Chooi Kah Ming/Ow Yao Han 21-19, 21-17 to finally ended a 3 years title drought in Open tournaments. The last time Koo Kien Keat & Tan Boon Heong won a championship together was in the 2012 Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold, in which they’ve also defeated Chooi Kah Ming/Ow Yao Han 21-15, 21-19 in the final.
Capturing the Sri Lanka International Challenge showed that their competitive fires were still burning brightly and they were on track to return to the winner’s circle. Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong will next play in the 2015 Yonex Mauritius International that will be held from June 11 to June 14.
B. Sai Praneeth of India and Supanida Katethong of Thailand emerged as the men’s and women’s champions in the Sri Lanka International Challenge badminton championship on Sunday.
Top seed B. Sai Praneeth snatched victory in men’s singles final, overcame resilient compatriot Sameer Verma 21-18, 21-8 in 38 minutes.
Supanida Katethong was pushed all the way by top seed Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland in the women’s singles final, before Jaquet announced her withdrawal from the final match at the 55th minutes due to injury. The final score of the match was 17-21, 21-11, 12-6.
In a tense women’s doubles final, Chaladchalam Chayanit/Phataimas Muenwong of Thailand upset second seeds Pradnya Gadre/N. Sikki Reddy of India 21-17, 14-21, 21-14 in a pulsating 3-set, 58 minutes tussle to bag their Sri Lanka International Challenge title.
The mixed doubles final also had all the thrills of a summit clash as both sides strove to wear each other down in long rallies. Second seeds Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan of India finally got the better of Robin Middleton/Leanne Choo from Australia to eventually emerge triumphant with 15-21,21-17,21-13 in 55 minutes.
