
Denmark's Antonsen wins first Indonesia Open crown
Anders Antonsen is hungry for more trophies after winning the Indonesia Open. (EPA Images pic)
JAKARTA : Badminton world No 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title today after beating Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan, while South Korea's An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta.
The 28-year-old Dane sank world No 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital's Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event.
Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second.
The Danish shuttler said he was thrilled to win the Indonesia Open title but declared he was 'hungry for more' trophies.
'I'm winning a Super 1000, one of the absolute biggest tournaments of the year,' Antonsen told reporters.
'It's incredible. I'm so grateful for how this place has changed my life many, many times.'
In a more closely fought women's singles final, South Korean ace and world No 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China's Wang Zhi Yi in three games.
She beat her Chinese rival 13-21, 21-19, 21-15 in 81 minutes.
An, the 2024 Olympic gold medallist, said she was 'happy' to win another Indonesia Open title after securing her first in 2021.
'It was a weird game, a difficult game. But fortunately, I can find my own confidence and never gave up,' An told reporters through an interpreter.
French mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue triumphed against Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran.
The pair, ranked 10th in the world, beat the sixth-ranked Thai pair 21-16, 21-18 in a 48-minute match, securing France's first Super 1000 title.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New Straits Times
16 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
The two reasons behind Pearly-Thinaah's smashing run
KUALA LUMPUR: What are the factors that led to Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah's remarkable run on the World Tour over the last four weeks? National women's doubles head coach Rosman Razak has offered two reasons: tactical changes and great on court communication. Pearly-Thinaah won the Thailand Open, reached the Malaysia Masters semi-finals and Singapore Open quarter-finals. And on Sunday, they nearly toppled China's mighty Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning in the Indonesia Open final. They lost 23-25, 21-12, 21-19 in 87 minutes, but Pearly-Thinaah had the world No. 1 against the ropes, and could have delivered the knockout blow. The Jakarta result was significant for Pearly-Thinnah as it was their first Super 1000 final, in a World Tour major event. In fact, their world ranking is set to rise a rung, to No. 3 after this, the highest in their careers. The tactical changes mentioned by Rosman are that Pearly-Thinaah's game has become more aggressive amid a more positive mindset. "There have been tactical changes in their play, and their excellent communication with each other on court have helped them come out of pressure cooker situations," said Rosman. "We have been trying new tactics and they have brought positive outcome. But we need to fine tune them." But off court, Pearly-Thinaah have another issue to deal with — their protracted contract negotiation with the BA of Malaysia (BAM). They may not want to sign a contract extension with the national association but turn professional instead. Under Rosman, the pair have been showing progress, but to remain under him, they will have to stay with BAM. Pearly-Thinaah are expected to meet BAM's top management next week for contract talks.


Free Malaysia Today
7 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Denmark's Antonsen wins first Indonesia Open crown
Anders Antonsen is hungry for more trophies after winning the Indonesia Open. (EPA Images pic) JAKARTA : Badminton world No 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title today after beating Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan, while South Korea's An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital's Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. The Danish shuttler said he was thrilled to win the Indonesia Open title but declared he was 'hungry for more' trophies. 'I'm winning a Super 1000, one of the absolute biggest tournaments of the year,' Antonsen told reporters. 'It's incredible. I'm so grateful for how this place has changed my life many, many times.' In a more closely fought women's singles final, South Korean ace and world No 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China's Wang Zhi Yi in three games. She beat her Chinese rival 13-21, 21-19, 21-15 in 81 minutes. An, the 2024 Olympic gold medallist, said she was 'happy' to win another Indonesia Open title after securing her first in 2021. 'It was a weird game, a difficult game. But fortunately, I can find my own confidence and never gave up,' An told reporters through an interpreter. French mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue triumphed against Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran. The pair, ranked 10th in the world, beat the sixth-ranked Thai pair 21-16, 21-18 in a 48-minute match, securing France's first Super 1000 title.


Free Malaysia Today
7 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Aussies wary of Saudi gamesmanship ahead of crunch World Cup qualifier
A 1-0 win over Japan on Thursday bought the Socceroos breathing room in their quest for a World Cup spot. (AP pic) HONG KONG : Australia's Connor Metcalfe has warned his teammates to avoid reacting to Saudi Arabia's gamesmanship when the nations face off in Jeddah on Tuesday with automatic qualification for next year's World Cup finals on the line. Tony Popovic's outfit goes into the meeting at the King Abdullah Sports City with one foot on the plane to North America after a 1-0 win over Japan on Thursday bought the Socceroos breathing room in their quest for a place at the finals. Despite that advantage, Metcalfe has sought to ensure the Australians do not allow their focus to slip ahead of a crucial 90 minutes that will be played out in front of more than 50,000 fans and in stifling heat. 'There's going to be a lot of diving, a lot of acting, but it's about just blocking the noise out, focusing on ourselves and doing the best we can,' said the St Pauli midfielder. 'You can't get affected by any of it, because if you get affected by any of their little games or noise or whatever it is, then it's just going to affect the game, and they're going to get that little advantage over you.' Australia hold a three-point lead over Herve Renard's side and a large enough goal difference to leave the Saudis needing to win by five goals to climb into second and claim the last automatic berth from the current phase of Asian preliminaries. Japan have already secured top spot in Group C while Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Jordan have taken the other berths available to Asian nations at the expanded World Cup from the third phase of qualifying. A further two spots will be up for grabs from a fourth round of qualifiers to be played in October. Anything other than a significant win over the Australians would see Saudi Arabia finish third in Group C and enter that next phase, where they would join the UAE, Qatar, Iraq and Indonesia. Also battling for a place in the fourth round are Oman and Palestine, with the pair looking to secure either third or fourth place in Group B on Tuesday. The two countries face off against each other in Amman with the Palestinians needing to win to climb above Rashid Jaber's side and keep their World Cup qualification dream alive. Neither nation has played at the World Cup and Palestine go into the meeting having handed Kuwait a 2-0 defeat on Thursday to stay in the hunt for a spot in the US, Canada and Mexico.