Kiwi Can't Stop World No2

The class of world No2 Zhou Mi from Hong Kong showed through as she retained her singles title at the US$50,000 KLRC New Zealand Badminton Open at the North Shore Events Centre late on Saturday evening. The 29-year-old’s straight set win over Kiwi Rachel Hindley will also regain her the world No1 ranking and plenty of kudos after a 12 month period which has been extremely successful for her.

Mi appeared to have the shuttlecock on a string placing it all over the court and not letting the New Zealander into the rallies. She forced Hindley into errors in the 21-10 21-15 win and never seemed to get flustered despite falling behind early on in each set.

Despite the loss there was some success for Hindley who will gain US$1750 in prizemoney who will be put to good use as she travels to Europe on Friday for a number of tournaments.

The men’s singles final was a matchup between the 2005 winner Sairul Ayob against fellow Malaysian Tsuen Seng Lee who was the tournaments 2006 winner.

In a lengthy battle which lasted well over 40 minutes it was Lee who triumphed with his aggressive left-handed game 24-17 21-17. The actual winning point was a slight anti-climax as Ayob let a shot drop in when he thought it was going out, giving Lee the victory.

The mixed final featured an all-Taipei contest with the world No16 pair of Hung Ling Chen and Chia Chi Chou playing the No20 ranked team in the world, Yu Hsin Hsieh/Yu Chin Chien. Eventually it was the higher ranked pair who finished ahead 21-18 22-20.

The men’s doubles final was a highlight with the power hitting of Hung Ling Chen and Yu Lang Lin from Taipei beating the top seeds Fernando Kurniawan and Lingga Lie of Indonesia 22-20 21-10 while in the women’s doubles final the second seeds Yu Chin Chien and Chia Chi Chou(Taipei) accounted for the Malaysian top seeds Chiou Hwee Haw and Pek Siah Lim 21-8 21-15.

Results
Mixed final:
(1)Hung Ling Chen/Chia Chi Chou(Taipei) bt (2)Yu Hsin Hsieh/Yu Chin Chien(Taipei) 21-18 22-20
Women’s singles final:
(1)Zhou Mi(Hong Kong) bt (3)Rachel Hindley(New Zealand) 21-10 21-15
Men’s singles final:
(3)Tsuen Seng Lee(Malaysia) bt (1)Sairul Ayob(Malaysia) 24-17 21-17
Women’s doubles final:
(2)Yu Chin Chien/Chia Chi Chou(Taipei) bt (1)Chiou Hwee Haw/Pek Siah Lim(Malaysia) 21-8 21-15
Men’s doubles final:
Hung Ling Chen/Yu Lang Lin(Taipei) bt (1)Fernando Kurniawan/Lingga Lie(Indonesia) 22-20 21-10