World No. 16 Wang Zhiyi of China stunned world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, 15-21, 21-13, 21-19, to capture her first-ever women’s singles Asian title at the SMART Badminton Asia Championships 2022 Sunday at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Muntinlupa City.
With the win, Wang gained 12,000 points for BWF World Rankings, while Yamaguchi received 10,200. Semifinalists An Seyoung of Korea and P.V. Sindhu of India took 8,400 points.
The 2019 champion Yamaguchi rallied mightily to tie the count at 19-all, but the Chinese refused to be intimidated and came through with a huge shot before sealing the win after Yamaguchi made an errant shot.
“Yamaguchi is a very tough opponent so I had to adjust my mentality to go through some tough decisions in the match,” the 22-year-old native of Shashi, Jingzhou added.
The women’s doubles title went to world no. 1 Chen Qingchen and Jia Yiafan which downed Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi, 21-11, 21-15.
Meantime, world No. 2 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China annexed the mixed doubles Asian title with a 21, 17, 21-8, win over compatriots Wang Lilyu and Huang Dongping, 21-17, 21-8.
The title win was the first Asian title for the 2019 World champions after taking the bronzes in 2018 and 2019.
With the win, Zheng and Huang Ya Qiong gained 12,000 points for BWF World Rankings, while Wang and Huang Dong Ping received 10,200.
Semifinalists Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktaviani and Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino took 8,400 points.
The tournament is made possible by SMART, MVP Sports Foundation, Li-Ning, Cignal, TV5, One Sports, Robinson’s Land, Premium Megastructure Inc., Philippine Badminton Association, Badminton Asia, the Philippine Olympic Committee, the Philippine Sports Commission, and Muntinlupa Mayor Fresnedi and the City of Muntinlupa.
