Badminton: Unseeded Lee stuns top seed to win first title

Lee Cheuk Yiu saw off four match points before winning. Photo / Brainjam

Lee Cheuk Yiu is the toast of Hong Kong badminton after a stunning upset in the New Zealand Open men's singles final at the North Shore Events Centre.

Playing in his first final at a BWF Grand Prix Gold event, Lee held his nerve to fight back from a game down to beat top seed Tzu Wei Wang in the title decider.

The unseeded 20-year-old was easily beaten in the first game, with Wang seemingly headed for his second New Zealand title after winning in 2014. But Lee, after facing four match points in the third game decider, somehow pegged back the deficit to clinch an epic 11-21, 21-15, 22-20 victory.

"I'm still dreaming," said Lee. "When I was down 20-16 in the third game, I just relaxed because I thought I had lost. But somehow in the end, I got there."

It is a far cry from what Lee expected when he arrived in New Zealand, having not looked beyond a likely second round match against third seeded Indonesian Jonatan Christie.
However, beating the third, sixth, seventh and first seeds in Auckland has done wonders for his confidence.

"I now know I can do it. I can trust myself to win against some of the top players in the world."

The women's singles final nearly followed the same script.

World No 9 Ratchanok Intanon won the opening game with ease against Japan's Saena Kawakami, only for the fifth seed to come storming back in the second, to force the Thai into a deciding third game

However, crowd favourite Intanon fended off what would have been a big upset, holding her nerve to close out the match 21-14, 16-21, 21-15.

Intanon says she never panicked after being taken to three.

"I was very well prepared and I was excited to be playing but it's good to have finished with the win," she said.

The 22-year-old Thai was aware of the drama in the men's singles but says she didn't let it affect her.

"I didn't think about it. I just tried to win my own match."

The women's doubles also went to plan, although top seeds Malaysia didn't have it all their own way.

Commonwealth Games gold medalists Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei dropped the opening game against Japan's Ayako Sakuramoto and Yukiko Takahata, but bounced back to win 18-21, 21-16, 21-19.

The men's doubles final was a far more straightforward affair, with Chinese Taipei's Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Li claiming the title in straight games.

The top seeds were too good on the day for second seeded Malaysians Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, winning 21-16, 21-18.

But the mixed doubles produced another upset, with Indonesia's Ronald and Annisa Saufika the surprise winners.

They were promoted to the main draw from qualifying due to a withdrawal but went all the way to be crowned champions.

The unseeded pair proved too good in the final for Australian eighth seeds Sawan Serasinghe and Setyana Mapasa, winning 21-19, 21-14.