Bangkok: Reigning Olympic badminton champion Carolina Marin and Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen on Sunday came out with dominant performances to win the respective women’s and men’s singles titles at the Toyota Thailand Open tournament.
In women’s singles final, Marin defeated top seed Tai Tzu-Ying 21-19, 21-17 in a match that lasted 48 minutes.
In a much tighter contest than the first final last week where the two had contested in the summit clash, Marin won the first game 21-19. The Taiwanese 26-year-old then appeared to lose her confidence early in the second game, as her 27-year-old Spanish opponent asserted her dominance. Tai then saved four match points but it was not enough to stop Marin to seal the game 21-17 and clinch her second Thailand Open title in a fortnight.
In men’s singles final, Axelsen eased past Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-11, 21-7 in just 40 minutes to seal his second title within a span of two weeks in Thailand.
With the win, the world number four has become the first men’s singles player to win all three Super 1000 tournament in a season and has also extended his unbeaten streak to 28 matches.
Thailand is hosting three consecutive badminton tournaments in a bio-secure bubble, without spectators amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
–IANS
