Gritty Ginting upsets Momota, clinches title

Indonesian star badminton player Anthony Ginting on Monday caused a major upset defeating reigning world champion Japan's Kento Momota in the summit clash to take the top honours in Victor China Open being played at Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium in Changzhou, China. The victory comes close on the heels of Ginting outplaying last three World champions -Lin Dan in the first round, Viktor Axelsen in the second and Chen Long in the quarter-finals in the run-up to final. Despite the fact that Momota suffered a thrashing at the hands of Ginting in the 2018 Asian Games, he has been nearly unbeatable in finals, having lost just one of his last eleven matches.

And in China as well, he repeated the feat as Momota had no reply to the blazing smashes of unheralded Ginting, bowing out by 23-21 21-19 in a clash that lasted for an hour.

Ginting was trailing 14-19 in the opening game and 10-15 in the second. But with his lightning speed and deft touches near the net, he narrowed the deficit overcoming the superior opponent. It is his first significant triumph since winning the Indonesia Masters in January.

"Thankful to God that I could win," said Ginting. "The match was tight and the margin was thin. I just tried to do what I did in previous matches when I was trailing. I just kept my focus, aiming to get the next point. The drift was a problem and I had to readjust in the second game. I kept the pressure on him with my attack whenever possible."

It was scripted tale in the women's singles finals as Carolina Marin stormed to her second title in two weeks. Marin had too many weapons in her arsenal for her Chinese counterpart Chen Yufei to handle as she clinched the match 21-18 21-13.

"My performance here was not 100 percent, but I'm am happy that I played ten matches in two weeks and won both titles," said Marin. "It was tough because she was playing really well in the beginning of both games, and with the home crowd supporting her, she was more confident. I tried to keep my focus, tried to keep going and just enjoy the game. I kept pushing her, I wanted to show that I want to win here.