Christie and Marin claim All England Open titles

Jonatan Christie beat compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting to win his first All England Open men’s singles with a 21-15 21-14 victory.
Both Indonesian men were playing in their first showpiece in Birmingham, with Christie taking his maiden Super 1000 win at the first time asking.
Christie, who entered the final ranked four places below his opponent, withstood fightbacks in both games to confirm Indonesia’s first singles title since Hariyanto Arbi in 1994.
A tentative start burst into a strong lead for Christie in the first game as he built an eight-point advantage.
But up against his good friend and someone he had not beaten since 2019, the World No. 9 was never going to have everything his own way.
Ginting reeled in Christie to sit just two points behind but that was the warning shot he needed as he closed out the game with four straight points.
The second followed a similar path as Christie was only behind at the opening stages but Ginting continued to weave his way back to touching distance. With the game poised at 15-14, Christie again turned on the style powering to the title with six consecutive points.
It marks a remarkable turnaround for the 26-year-old who had come to Birmingham on the back of two first-round losses in a row.
“I am very happy because we made history, the first all-Indonesia final after 30 years,” he said.
“I am the champion here and it is very important for me. The start of 2024 has been up and down but God helped me a lot this tournament.
“Sometimes you don’t see the different side, it is upsetting when you lose in the first round two tournaments in a row, when you try to train harder and harder.
“But I’ve managed to improve now.”
Losing finalist Ginting was all class as he discussed the long history they have together, from coming to the national team at the same time to sharing the stage at one of badminton’s biggest events.
He said: “My first memory of Jonatan is our first day in the national team. We were the juniors, really young at the time, 16 or 17 years old.
“We were feeling shy and a bit scared with our seniors because we are young and it’s Asian culture, right? We shared a bedroom, three of us, me, Jonatan and our teammate.
“There are good memories from that time until today, we can share together, and worked for this together. If there is no Jonatan today, there is no me today.”
Marin wins women’s singles title as Yamaguchi retires
Carolina Marin claimed the women’s singles title as Akane Yamaguchi was forced to retire at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2024.
With the game at 26-24 10-1 in Marin’s favour, the Japanese shuttler was unable to continue with an injured hip.
For Marin, the title marks a return to the top tier in Birmingham for the first time since 2015.
The lead changed hands seven times in the first game, with no player ever more than three points ahead.
Yamaguchi saw five game-point opportunities pass her by as Marin battled until the death. The Spaniard needed a medical timeout after letting her second chance at winning the game go by.
“I feel extremely happy,” Marin said. “I’m very proud of myself. It was a tough week and I feel really, really proud because at the beginning of the week, I had a hard conversation with my coach about the things that I have to improve.
“And this is what I did during the whole week. So this is why I feel really proud and of course I feel really really happy to win my second All England after nine years.
“We didn’t think about this tournament, we thought about the things that I need to improve, but not for this tournament.
“Actually, my main goal is going to be at the Olympic Games in the summer.”
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