Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie cliched the Badminton Asia Championships crown yesterday, seeing off Li Shi Feng in two sets in China.Christie defeated home favourite Li 21-15, 21-16 in the tournament finale in the Chinese city of Ningbo.Earlier China’s Wang Zhi Yi swatted aside compatriot Chen Yu Fei 21-19, 21-7 to claim the women’s singles title.Wang’s victory came after world number one, South Korean An Se-young, was dumped out in the quarter-finals on Friday by China’s He Bingjiao.An, the top seed in Ningbo, will still be favourite to win gold at this summer’s Paris Olympics but she has been struggling with a knee injury.The men’s doubles title was claimed yesterday by Chinese pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who dispatched Malaysian duo Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 21-17, 15-21, 21-10.South Korean partners Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee took the women’s doubles title by beating China’s Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu 23-21, 21-12.The prestigious annual tournament was the final chance for Asian players to seal a spot at the Paris Olympics which will be held from July 26 to August 11.
April 14, 2024 | 11:47 PM