AN overjoyed Lee Chong Wei kissed the Jalur Gemilang on his T-Shirt and it drew the loudest cheer in the packed Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
It was a moment to savour for the world number one Chong Wei when he lifted the Malaysian Open men’s singles title for the sixth time in a most convincing fashion.
The win ended his agonising wait for his first back-to-back Open badminton title in his career. He had won the Korean Open last week.
Yesterday, a cool and confident Chong Wei took only 34 minutes to blow away Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand with a 21-13, 21-7 win in one of the most lop-sided finals in the home tournament.
“I have never seen a big crowd like this for the Malaysian Open. My parents were here too to watch me play for the first time in the stadium. I am so happy,” said the 28-year-old Chong Wei.
HOTSHOTS Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong went through a roller coaster ride before nailing the Malaysian Open men’s doubles title at the Putra Stadium here yesterday.
The top seeds came through some tense moments before prevailing over China’s Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen 21-15, 17-21, 21-16 in a 55-minute final.
It was the second time that the duo won a title when they were ranked as the world No.1 pair. They also pulled off a similar feat at the Denmark Open last year.
Malaysia last won the men’s doubles title in the Malaysian Open through Kien Keat-Boon Heong in 2007. Then they went on to dominate the world doubles game for some time that year.
Yesterday, the win did not come easy for the Malaysians with both Kien Keat and Boon Heong experiencing ups and downs in their game.
At times, Kien Keat will be so intelligent at the net and then squander easy points at the front.
Boon Heong was awesome in finding the empty space to hit down winners in the opening game but was awfully off in the second game.
It was a neck-and-neck battle in the decider and the tide turned in favour of the Malaysians after they took a 16-15 lead.
Lanky Xu Chen irritated the home fans by gesturing to the crowd to be quiet after taking the 15th point.
It riled up the crowd and provided the impetus for the Malaysians to rise to the occasion. And they did it in steely form to romp home for their first title of the year.
The Star
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