Published : Jan. 8, 2012 - 20:20
Korean badminton doubles pair Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung failed Sunday to defend their Korea Open title after a heartbreaking loss to World No. 1 duo Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China at the finals in Seoul.
Lee and Jung, who were looking to win their third consecutive Korea Open title, lost to the Chinese pair in a close three-end match with 21-18, 17-21 and 19-21 after a more than hour and a half match.
The current world No. 2 Korean pair finished the 2011 season on a positive note by grabbing the men’s doubles title in Denmark and also the French Open title, beating the world No. 1 Chinese pair in both finals.
And they were looking to continue their hot streak against their rivals at the home competition. The Korean duo, however, failed to do so with a couple of decisive errors in the final set. The loss could also affect their campaign ahead of the 2012 London Olympics in July.
On Sunday, the Korean champions started brilliantly after taking a hard fought first set with 21-18. But from then on, the world No. 1 pair were sharp and agile, giving Lee and Jung little chance to score.
Korea’s Lee Yong-dae returns a shot on Sunday. (Yonhap News)
The Korean pair seemed to rediscover their rhythm in the third set, edging their way into a 15-9 lead, before the Chinese duo rattled off six points to tie it at 16-16.
Then the Koreans made successive crucial mistakes, allowing the Chinese pair to win the final set 21-19 to take the title.
The Korea Open, the first of the 12 Super Series events hosted by the Badminton World Federation, is the most lucrative badminton tournament, offering a $1 million total purse. The Chinese world No. 1 team took home $79,000 with Sunday’s victory.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles final, Korea’s Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung lost to Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei.
Ha and Kim beat the world No.1 pair Xiaoli Wang and Yu Yang in the semifinals to advance to the finals. But on Sunday they were out of their depth as the No.2 seed Chinese pair showed enough class to carve out 21-18 and 21-13 in a straight-set triumph over the Koreans.
By Oh Kyu-wook
(596story@heraldcorp.com)