China's Shi wins men's singles title at badminton Australian Open

SYDNEY - China's Shi Yuqi bagged the men's singles title at the Australian Badminton Open 2022 on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over compatriot Lu Guangzu in the final.

In a 69-minute clash with Lu, Shi sealed the first-set 21-19 by reaping six consecutive points from 19-15 down. After losing the second set 21-18, Shi trounced Lu 21-5 in the decider to take the crown.

"I was a little bit exhausted at the first two sets and not fully recovered from the semifinal. In the tiebreaker, I felt that my physical strength was built up again and I was able to move faster," Shi said.

China's Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu claimed a 21-19, 21-13 win over Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard of Thailand in the women's doubles final in 44 minutes for their first championship since their debut as a pair in March.

"This is a reward for our hard work. But we also found our deficiencies during the tournament, which we still need to make up for through further games and training," Zheng told Xinhua.

Another gold medal for China was from the men's doubles pair Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi. The eighth-seeded duo got the better of their sixth-seeded opponents Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia 21-16, 22-20.

As the tournament's top seed and world No. 2, An Se-young of South Korea secured her women's singles title by overcoming Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-17, 21-9.

In the mixed doubles, the fourth-seeded duo Seo Seung-jae/Chae Yu-jung of South Korea defeated their compatriots Kim Won-ho/Jeong Na-eun 21-9, 21-17 to take the title.