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Shi beats Lanier to win Japan Open badminton title / Photo: Yuichi YAMAZAKI - AFP
Shi beats Lanier to win Japan Open badminton title
China's former badminton world number one Shi Yuqi won the Japan Open title on Sunday, beating French defending champion Alex Lanier 21-17, 21-15 in the final.
South Korea's An Se-young downed China's Wang Zhiyi 21-12, 21-10 in the women's final to capture an incredible sixth title in seven tournaments so far this year.
Shi was replaced at the top of the men's world rankings by Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in June, but he was too good for rising star Lanier in Tokyo.
The Chinese player came out on top after a close first game and wore his 20-year-old opponent down to close out the match in 50 minutes.
"I wanted to take it at my own pace, and even if I was losing I knew it was important to dig in," said current world number three Shi, who won his third title of the year.
"My opponent is young and he has a lot of physical strength, so I knew I had to stick to my own style."
Lanier won his first major senior title in Tokyo last year and he followed it up with victory at the European Championships in April.
He will attempt to win the world title in front of his home fans in Paris next month, but he admitted he felt pressure in Tokyo as the defending champion.
"I don't think that it is affecting me mentally, but physically you play with a bit more pressure," he said.
"The movements are a bit less relaxed and there are some distractions in the timing, in the footwork."
World women's number one An extended her remarkable run of form with a dominating win over second-seeded Wang.
An's only defeat this year came in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open last month.
"I always have areas that need to be improved on so I work on those in training," said the 23-year-old An, who won gold at last year's Paris Olympics.
"I challenge myself and that's what leads to these results -- I put in extra effort on the things that need improving."
China's Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin took the mixed doubles title, beating Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Suprissara Paewsampran 21-19, 16-21, 21-15 in the final.
China also came out on top in women's doubles, with the top-seeded pair of Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning beating Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan 21-15, 21-14.
South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Sueng-jae won the men's doubles final 21-16, 21-17 over Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin.
V.Jackson--SMC
