Mulheim an der Ruhr: No. 6 seeds Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan who lost to two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the 2016 German Open final, lived up to his extravagant billing on Sunday, overcoming compatriot No. 14 seed Wang Tzu Wei to claim his first German Open title.
Chou quickly powered to a 9-3 lead in the first set, before Wang narrowed the gap at 16-17. Chou then jolted Wang with his booming smashes and speed, sweeping away Wang with 21-16 in the first set.
Both Taiwanese players were engaged in a see-saw battle during the first half of second set. Leading at 13-12, there was a sudden gain of momentum, a surge that saw Chou capturing 6 straight points to secure an unassailable lead at 19-12 and to claim the second set with 21-14.
“I accelerated my tempo a little bit in today’s match, because I know Wang is exhausted after beating Chen Long in 3-sets on Saturday,” said Chou. Chou also racked up 7000 ranking points with his German Open victory.
Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi lifted the women’s singles title without breaking sweat when her final opponent, the Olympic Champion Carolina Marin had to retire due to injury.
In men’s doubles, No. 4 seeds Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark pulled off an upset against their teammates and No. 2 seeds Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding 21-17, 21-13 to win the title.
Unseeded Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota of Japan scored another upset in the final, stunning No. 5 seeds Huang Dongping/Li Yinhui of China 15-21, 21-17, 21-15 in 75 minutes to win the women’s doubles title.
In an all-Chinese final, No. 8 seeds Zhang Nan/Li Yinhui edged past No. 1 seeds Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong 22-20, 21-11 to win the mixed doubles crown.
