Thai mixed doubles duo of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai claimed their first BWF World Tour Super 500 title at the Singapore Open on Sunday.
Buoyed by their massive upset win over China's top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong in the semi-finals on Saturday, the Thai pair put on another confident display as they raced past unseeded Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia 21-14, 21-6 in just 33 minutes at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
It was also a case of third time lucky for Dechapol and Sapsiree, who have twice lost in the final -- at the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters and the Malaysia Masters -- in January this year.
Dechapol and Sapsiree received $28,045 (869,395 baht).
"I'm so excited to have won the title today," said Sapsiree. "I would like to thank all the fans here at the stadium and also the Thai fans back home for always supporting us."
Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, heaped praise on the pair.
"They [Dechapol and Sapsiree] won the title today because of their focus and determination. They have been training very, very hard to improve their game after losing the two finals in Thailand and Malaysia earlier this year, and their hard work paid off today," said Patama.
"They have made all their fans very happy. The title is a perfect gift to the Thai people on this Family Day [April 14] in Thailand."
Patama added she was confident Dechapol and Sapsiree could go all the way after their stunning victory over world champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong on Saturday.
"After beating Zheng and Huang yesterday, I thought both Dechapol and Sapsiree must be feeling confident about their own game.
"What they need to do from now on is to maintain their level and hopefully win more titles."
Earlier, Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying made it back-to-back titles, claiming the women's singles crowns.
The top-seeded Taiwanese defeated second seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-15 for her second Singapore Open title.
"Okuhara is a good opponent, she's very durable, so I was prepared for a long match," Tai said. "I am playing well right now but it's important to stay injury-free with the Tokyo Olympics coming up next year."
World No.1 Tai won her third straight Malaysia Open crown in Kuala Lumpur a week ago.
Meanwhile men's top-ranked Kento Momota claimed his third title of 2019 after a thrilling 10-21, 21-19, 21-13 win over Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.
The world champion struggled to contain Ginting, who was finding both corners of the court in the first half of the match.
But the top seed dug deep to fight back from 16-11 behind in the second game to force a decider.
Momota trailed again in the last game as Ginting sought a third straight upset win in as many days.
But the left-hander used a combination of improvisation and guile to craft a run of 13 points in 14 to seal a stunning victory with a disguised drop shot on his first match point.
"I felt my opponent played better than me today but I was able to capitalise when he got tired," said Momota, who also won the Singapore title in 2015.
"He tried to push a little too hard in the second game but I kept telling myself to stay patient and never give up."
Momota also won the German Open and the All England Open.
The men's doubles crown went to third seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda after the Japanese pair battled past fourth seed Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-13, 19-21, 21-17.
Japan had their third winners of the day when Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara after the third seeds beat unseeded Kim He-Jeong and Kong Hee-Yong of South Korea 21-17, 22-20. bangkok post/afp