Dane Antonsen ends bane of being second best at Indonesian Open
PETALING JAYA: It was third time lucky for Danish shuttler Anders Antonsen in the Indonesian Open.
Antonsen, who finished runners-up in the 2019 and 2024 editions, finally got his hands on the title by overpowering Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen 22-20, 21-14 at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
It was also sweet revenge for the world No. 3 after he was denied by world No. 7 Tien-chen in the 2019 final.
Antonsen did not have it easy as he was behind 17-20 in the first game but pulled off an astonishing comeback to stun the 35-year-old.
The Dane then used the momentum well to wrap up the match in an hour.
Antonsen, who played through pain, was thrilled to end his wait for the crown.
"First of all, I want to thank all the fans. Istora Senayan is a fantastic place to play badminton," said Antonsen.
"It has changed my life for sure since I first won the Indonesian Masters title here in 2019.
"It's an incredible place and I'm really grateful for another final here.
"I take a lot of painkillers and my body is pretty banged up. It's tough playing men's singles. I was fighting super hard.
"This is my third time playing in this tournament and I wanted to win so badly," added Antonsen.
It was Antonsen's first title of the year after he finished runners-up in the Malaysian Open in January and Thailand Open last month.
Istora Senayan has always been a happy hunting ground for the 28-year-old as he won the Indonesian Masters in 2019 and 2024.
Meanwhile, in the women's singles, South Korea's world No. 1 An Se-young captured her second title in the tourney after brilliantly coming from behind to beat China's world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi 13-21, 21-19, 21-15 in 81 minutes.
Se-young added to her crown in 2021 and created history by becoming the first women's singles player to triumph in three World Tour Super 1000 competitions in the same year.
The 23-year-old also claimed the Malaysian Open and All-England titles this year.
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