World number one Lee Chong Wei easily defeated Germany’s Marc Zwiebler on Sunday to win the Indonesia Open for a fifth time.
The Malaysian ace hardly broke a sweat against the unseeded Zwiebler in the men’s singles final in Jakarta, winning the match 21-15, 21-14 in just 40 minutes.
Lee dominated from start to finish, with a string of smashes which proved too difficult for his left-handed opponent to return.
“As I had expected, it was a very hard match against Lee Chong Wei,” Zwiebler said.
“He was not that kind of player who will give any mercy if I made weak shots. He was always in control. I have tried everything I can.”
Lee praised his opponent: “Zwiebler played well today. He showed a lot of progress.”
The 30-year-old said he was “very happy” to win the title, which has prize money of $52,500, for the fifth time. But he added he was anxious to return to Malaysia to be with his son Kingston, who was born in April and is his first child.
The victory came on Father’s Day, the first for Lee as a father. He said he would participate in the tournament again next year.
“I know I am not 25 years old anymore, but I’ll try to forget my age. I’ll just have to make sure I stay away from injuries,” he said.
In the women’s singles final, world no. 1 Li Xuerui of China beat Germany’s Juliane Schenk. Li won 21-16, 18-21, 21-17.
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Golds for Pradeep, Sumit in Junior Asian Wrestling
New Delhi, June 16: Grapplers Pradeep Kumar (60kg) and Sumit (96kg) clinched gold medals in the junior Asian wrestling championship as India finished with a rich haul of 17 medals at the competition in Phuket, Thailand, on Sunday.
Besides two gold medals on the final day, the Indian bagged two silver and a bronze to finish at the top of the freestyle team rankings of the championships.
In the 60kg category, Pradeep began well against North Korea’s Kuk Gwang Kim and led the first period 3-0. The Indian faced a stiff challenge in the second but wrapped the freestyle-bout in his favour with a cumulative score of 8-3.
Sumit blanked his Kazakh opponent Yermukambet Inkar 7-0 in the final of the 96kg category. — PTI