KAI Schaefer defied the odds to beat top-seed Kalle Koljonen, 21-14, 21-14, to clinch the men’s singles crown in the Bahrain International Series Badminton Tournament 2022 at the Indian Club last night.
The German, who would not even have played in the final had Aryamann Tandon, his Indian opponent in the semi-final the day before, not been forced to withdraw just three points shy of a win because of a dislocated shoulder, made the most of his good fortune by outplaying his Finnish counterpart in a display of high-class badminton.
After running away with the first set, during which he first took a 9-3 lead and then, served to his opponent with the score at 18-9, Schaefer shrugged off a spirited fightback by Koljonen in the opening few minutes of the second set to take a 15-9 lead.
Schaefer then closed out the set by serving for the match at 20-14 and celebrated a remarkable win with some classy sportsmanship, running up to the net to shake hands with the dejected Koljonen.
The women’s singles final followed a similar pattern with unseeded Wang Yu Si, of Chinese Taipei, dominating Indonesia’s Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo in a 21-19, 21-16, victory.
Although Wardoyo managed to take the first set almost to the wire before Si prevailed, the second set saw the Chinese Taipei player in absolute command.
Wardoyo fought back bravely to deny her opponent a runaway win but Si knew she held the reins and calmly cantered to victory.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles final, the England pair of Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore ignored the support their opponents, R Ouothong and and J Sudjaipraparat, had in the form of a large contingent of Thai fans, to defeat them, 21-17, 21-16.
Mairs and Moore declared their intent in the first set by galloping to a 13-7 lead but then saw Ouothong and Sudjaipraparat come within touching distance at 18-17.
However, even as their supporters cheered them on, the Thai pair appeared to have run out of steam as Mairs and Moore managed to close the first set out.
Ouothong and Sudjaipraparat made a better start to the second set, taking a 9-5 lead at one point. But it was the English pair’s day and they soon drew level at 16-16 before holding their serve for five consecutive points to win the title.
In the women’s doubles final, an all-Chinese Taipei affair, Liang Ting Yu and Wu Ti Jung defeated compatriots Hsei Pei Shan and Tseng Yu Chi, 21-19, 20-22 and 21-10 in the only match of the evening to go the distance.
After Yu and Jung took the hard-fought first set, Shan and Chi stormed back to edge ahead in the second.
In the third set, however, Yu and Jung shifted gears, with their opponents just not managing to keep up, and motored comfortably to a memorable victory.
The men’s doubles final, an all-Thai affair this time, saw Tanadon Punpanich and Wachirawit Sothon prevail over P Kaosamaang and W Thongsa Nga, 21-16, 21-16.
The two pairs were, more or less, evenly-matched in the first set before Punpanich and Sothon suddenly ran away with the game. The story repeated itself in the second set but, after being neck-and-neck until 8-8, Punpanich and Sothon began to edge ahead, leading 14-11 at one stage.
But P Kaosamaang and W Thongsa Nga were not giving up without a fight and managed to get within two points of their opponents at 12-14.
The two-point difference remained constant as the match wore on but, suddenly, from leading 17-15, Punpanich and Sothon surged to match-point, at 20-16, and celebrated wildly when they won.
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