Source: NURPHOTO/Kabir Jhangiani
[Saba Sports News] The 2024 Indonesia Badminton Open has concluded. In the men’s singles final, China’s Shi Yuqi defeated Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in a hard-fought three-game match, putting an end to the Chinese badminton team’s 35-year championship drought in Indonesia. It’s worth mentioning that the last Chinese player to win the men’s singles championship at the Indonesia Badminton Open was Xiong Guobao in 1989. In the nearly 35 years since then, the Chinese badminton team has produced three Olympic men’s singles champions: Ji Xinpeng, who achieved victory in Sydney in 2000, Lin Dan, who claimed gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, and Chen Long, who reached the top in Rio in 2016. However, these three Olympic champions failed to conquer the “devil’s home court” of the Indonesia Open. According to the Chinese badminton team’s Olympic preparation plan, the Indonesian competition marked Shi Yuqi’s final BWF tournament before heading to the Paris Olympics. With consecutive wins in Singapore and Indonesia, Shi Yuqi has secured the top seed in the men’s singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics, placing him in a favorable position to win the Olympic gold medal.