Taiwan shuttler Chou Tien-chen clinched the men’s singles title at the Thailand Open badminton tournament on Sunday in a thrilling final against Hong Kong opponent Angus Ng Ka Long.
Both players collapsed after third-seed Chou eked out victory 21-14, 11-21, 23-21 in a 67-minute match at Bangkok’s Indoor Stadium Huamark.
“I love you guys, thank you,” the 29-year-old winner told the crowd in an on-court interview.
Former world champion and hometown favourite Ratchanok Intanon is eyeing her third Thailand Open title later Sunday against Chinese top seed Chen Yufei, who comes into the women’s final having not dropped a game.
In women’s doubles, Japanese seventh seeds Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto fended off Du Yue and Li Yinhui, the eighth seeds from China, in three close games.
Unseeded Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned Chinese third seeds Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen to win the men’s title.
