Badminton Asia Championships: Hong Kong duo claim sensational win
Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet earn first continental title with final win against host pair Midorikawa Daiki and Saito Natsu
Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet grabbed the biggest win of their careers on Sunday, claiming the mixed doubles title at the Badminton Asia Championships.
The fifth seeds, who stunned Chinese pair Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin in the semi-finals, denied Japan a first title, beating Midorikawa Daiki and Saito Natsu 21-15, 17-21, 21-13 in little more than an hour at Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
After taking a break from each other at the start of the year, Tang and Tse sealed their first Asian title since first teaming up in 2016, it was only Hong Kong’s second mixed doubles victory at the event since Lee Chun-hei and Chow Kai-wah won the championship in 2014.
The triumph came a day after the pair broke China’s decade-long dominance of the mixed doubles competition at the championships, ensuring there would be no team from the mainland in the final for the first time since 2015.
China had won every mixed doubles title since 2016.
Tang and Tse had never beaten their opponents in four previous meetings, but changed that in surprisingly dominant fashion, downing the top seeds 21-16, 21-17 in 42 minutes.