Axelsen and Yamaguchi toast success in Kuala Lumpur
published : 16 Jan 2023 at 04:30
newspaper section: Sports
World No.1 Viktor Axelsen claimed the men's singles title at the season-opening BWF Malaysia Open, easily crushing Japan's Kodai Naraoka 21-6, 21-15 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The Danish defending champion, who was the top seed in the Malaysian capital, took only 40 minutes to triumph at the US$1.25 million World Tour Super 1000 event at the Axiata Arena.
Olympic champion Axelsen, 29, was in sensational form last year, winning eight titles including the All England and World Championships and showed no sign of slowing down after cruising to victory in his first tournament of the year.
Naraoka and Axelsen previously faced off at December's World Tour Finals in a semi-final which Axelsen won.
Naraoka had knocked out Thai rising star Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The women's singles crown went to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan after the top seed defeated second seed An Se-Young of South Korea 12-21, 21-19, 21-11 to win the World Tour Super 1000 event.
Top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China captured the mixed doubles title after they defeated third seeds Yuta Watanabe and Ariya Higashino of Japan 21-19, 21-11.
The women's doubles crown also went to a Chinese pair after top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan beat unseeded Baek Ha-Na and Lee Yu-Lim of South Korea 21-16, 21-10.
The men's doubles title went to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia who needed three games to overcome Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China 21-18, 18-21, 21-13.
