Malaysians rule RP Open roost

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Top seed Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan capped
Malaysia’s domination of the 2007 Bingo Bonanza
Philippine Open Badminton Championships as the world
No. 2 tandem held off a stubborn Zhendong Guo-Zhongbo
Xie of China, 21-8, 26-24, in the final to win the
men’s double plum.

The Malaysian duo was actually trailing, 10-19, in the
second set but superb court coverage brought it back
into the game before eventually wresting control to
the delight of the fans who packed the lower section
of the venue.

Counting world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei’s virtual one-sided
romp over top seed Chen Hong of China in the men’s
singles, 21-9, 21-15, the Malaysians took two of the
five titles staked in the five-day championship
sponsored by Bingo Bonanza Corp. for the second
straight year and organized by IMG.

Except for the ladies singles, the championship, a
Grand Prix Gold event, was played according to form
with the top three seeded teams living up to their
billing and Lee, ranked No. 2, overshadowing Chen in
the centerpiece event.

If not for the last-minute withdrawals of the top
three seeds in ladies singles, the likes of Xu Huaiwen
of Germany, Pi Hong Yan of France and Malaysia’s Mew
Choo Wong could’ve clashed for the crown.

But for Hong Kong’s Zhou Mi, the top three’s absence
came like a gift from heaven although she worked her
butt out to make it to the main draw by winning three
games in the grueling qualifier.

She stunned seventh ranked Kaori Mori of Japan in the
Last 16 then kept her fine form against another
Japanese, Yu Hirayama and German Juliane Schenk before
foiling Zhu Jingjing, 21-18, 21-12, to cop the women’s
singles’ title worth $8,280.

In other final results, top seed Lilyana Natsir and
Nova Widianto of Indonesia demolished No. 5 Wang Yu Mi
and Han Sang Hoon of Korea, 21-17, 21-13, to win the
mixed doubles crown and the top purse of $7,320.
In women’s doubles, top seed Chien Yu Chin and Cheng
Wen Hsing of Chinese Taipei lived to his top billing
as they trounced unseeded Pan Pan and Tian Qing of
China, 22-20, 21-14, to bag the top purse worth
$7,320.