Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong are now the most successful players in Indonesia Masters history.
The top seeds won their fifth title at the tournament on Sundday, with aplomb, beating unseeded Japanese Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito 21-15 21-16 in just 31 minutes.
Zheng was at loss for words post-match when realisation hit about the pair’s achievement.
“I’m speechless. I know we’ve won a lot here but I didn’t know we are now the most successful. We are so happy, this is such a meaningful place for us,” said the 26-year-old, who debuted in the competition in 2013 with He Jiaxin.
“We’ve always had good results at the Istora. The fans never fail to support us and I think they bring us luck. We enjoy playing in this arena so much. The fans are one of the most important reasons we want to keep coming back, although we were sick last week.”
Zheng and Huang became unwell while playing at the Malaysia Open two weeks ago and opted to skip India Open to regain health.
“We are still recovering,” revealed Huang after securing the pair’s first crown of the season. “We are probably at about 80 per cent but we gave every per cent to win today.”
Making records at the tournament is not unusual for Zheng and Huang.
Previously tied on four titles with local legends Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, the world No.1s became the first mixed pair to top the podium three consecutive times in 2020.
They are also the only ones to win all their titles as a pair – Gideon and Sukamuljo triumphed once with different partners before going on a run together from 2019-2020.
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