Mixed doubles stars Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai completed another season-ending hat-trick of titles by retaining their World Tour Finals crown in Bali on Sunday.
Having claimed three straight victories in Bangkok in January, the Thai world No.2 pair claimed another slice of badminton history with a 21-19, 21-11 victory over Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan.
They won the Indonesia Masters and the Indonesia Open before this week's finale and also claimed the Hylo Open in Germany prior to their trip to Bali.
Dechapol and Sapsiree made history early this year when they won the Yonex Thailand Open, the Toyota Thailand Open and the World Tour Finals to conclude the 2020 season in January.
The duo pocketed US$126,000 (approx 4,158,000 baht) winners' cheque while the Japanese players took home $60,000 (1,980,000 baht).
"World Tour Finals champion !!!!! Words cannot describe how happy I am to have achieved this. TRIPLE CHAMPION here in Indonesia. This means the world to me, thank you everyone for all your support!," Sapsiree wrote on her Instagram.
However, another Thai player in the final yesterday Kunlavut Vitidsarn was unable to pick up a second title for the Kingdom.
The 20-year-old rising star lost to world No.1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 12-21, 8-21 in the men's singles decider.
Axelsen, the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, proved too strong for Kunlavut, who was named the BWF most promising player on Friday, as the Dane wrapped up his second successive title in Bali in 43 minutes.
Axelsen was named the BWF male payer of the year on Friday.
Earlier, An Se-Young secured the biggest title of her career with a 21-16, 21-12 win over Pusarla V Sindhu.
In the process, she became the first Korean women's singles player to win a season-ending championship, proving she is a rising powerhouse after claiming three back-to-back titles in Bali.
"It's been a tiring three weeks for me. I'm super glad to come away with three titles and I'm very happy about it. I'm really excited about the World Championships and I'm hoping to play without any injuries."
Kim So-Yeong and Kong Hee-Yong of South Korea took the women's doubles crown while the men's doubles title went to Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan. bangkok post/bwfworldtour.com