Anders Antonsen captured his first title in over two years after holding off fourth seed Loh Kean Yew in a thrilling final at the Korea Open 2023.

The unseeded Dane, who has struggled in recent months with a persistent groin strain, stayed composed all through the final, despite falling behind in the early part of the match against the attacking Loh.

Antonsen gained an edge at the end of the riveting final after Loh smashed into the net with an empty court to play into, and the Dane went on to take the match 11-21 21-11 21-19 in 68 minutes.

Antonsen’s last title was the European Championships in May 2021, while his last World Tour title was the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in January that year.

“It means absolutely everything to me,” said Antonsen.

“I’m quite emotional at the moment; it’s been such a long time and I’ve been through so many tough times, injuries, and at times I’ve doubted myself like never before. It’s so amazing to finally win a title again.”

Antonsen said he had to come up with something different after the opening game in which Loh rained smash winners.

“He’s so fast and his attack is amazing. I was struggling with my defence in the first game and you saw what happened. I had to be tactically aware and change things a bit. I had five great wins this week. Knowing that I’m back where it’s really fun to be, it feels amazing.”

In women’s singles, second seed An Se Young provided a treat for home fans with a ruthless 21-9 21-15 result over Asian champion Tai Tzu Ying to claim her sixth title this year from her ninth final, and defend the title that she won last year.

“This is my sixth title this year … every time I win I feel different. So I feel different today too,” said An. “Yesterday I made a lot of mistakes, but today I told myself not to repeat those mistakes.

“Initially I felt nervous today too, but as there were a lot of Korean fans out there, I wanted to be at my best, and I managed to show them my best game.”

Highlights

Korea however had a setback earlier in the day, with women’s doubles duo Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong coming up short against Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, who won their season’s third title.

India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty captured their second title in a row beating world No.1 duo Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto. The Indians, winners of the KAPAL API GROUP Indonesia Open in June, bounced back after the loss of the opening game to take their first Korea Open crown, 17-21 21-13 21-14.

In the all-China mixed doubles final, Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping weathered the challenge of compatriots Jiang Zheng Bang/Wei Ya Xin, 21-16 21-13, for their fourth title of the season.

→ RESULTS