D

efending men’s doubles champions Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano successfully held their home-turf title at the US$120,000 Bankaltim Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold in Samarinda on Sunday.

In Sunday’s final against seventh-seeded Japanese pair Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa, the top-seeded Indonesian duo displayed their high performance style, winning 21-13, 21-14.

The world No. 14 Japanese pair managed to briefly force a tight game during the first half of the first game. Nonetheless, the world No. 6 Indonesians took charge all the way to repeat last year’s victory in the tournament.

“We are happy and grateful to be able to win our first title of the year and also defend last year’s title here. Our opponents appeared to not play their best, maybe because they were nervous because of the local supporters,” Ahsan said as quoted on the Indonesian Badminton Association’s official website, www.pb-pbsi.org, on Sunday.

The hosts defended another title in the men’s singles all-Indonesian final between Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka and Tommy Sugiarto. The eighth-seeded Hayom won the title after beating seventh-seeded Tommy in a straight match of 21-16, 21-17. Hayom replaced last year’s champion, Taufik Hidayat, who was beaten by Tommy in the semifinals.

“Today I’m not as fit as when I played Taufik yesterday,” Tommy said as quoted by Antara news agency.

China took home two titles from Samarinda, as unseeded mixed doubles pair He Hanbin and Bao Yixin won the all-Chinese finals. Another title was won by unseeded women’s singles shuttler Chen Xiao Jia, who beat sixth-seeded Pi Hongyan of France 19-21, 21-15, 21-17.

Malaysian women’s doubles pair Vivian Kah Mun Hoo and Woon Khe Wei snatched a title after wrestling the match from Bao Yixin and Zhong Qianxin 19-21, 21-19, 21-18.