Lilyana, Nova grab first title in Series

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 07/23/2007 11:44 AM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mixed doubles pair Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia ended their title drought with a victory Sunday over Yu Mi Hwang and Sang Hoon Han of South Korea in the final of the US$125,000 Philippines Open in Manila.

The top seeds needed 37 minutes to dispose of the Koreans 21-17, 21-13. It was their first title since winning the Korean Open in August 2006.

It was also an important win for Indonesia, whose shuttlers have struggled at the international level recently.

Since the Super Series was introduced in January, only mixed doubles pair Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa and women's doubles Vita and Lilyana have won titles, at the Singapore Open and China Open, respectively.

Badminton powerhouse China, who sent mostly second stringers to Manila, went home empty-handed despite making the finals in four events.

In the men's singles, second seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia upset top seed Chen Hong of China 21-9, 21-15. His victory adds to his title collection after winning the Indonesia Open in May.

Women's singles Zhu Jingjing of China lost to Zhou Mi of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-12.

Chinese women's doubles Pan Pan and Qing Tian succumbed to top seeds Yu Chin Chien and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese-Taipei 22-20, 21-14.

Malaysian top seeds Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong bounced back from a string of poor performances on the international stage to claim the men's doubles title.

The Malaysians beat China's Guo Zhendong and Xie Zhongbo 21-8, 26-24.

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