T

he only Indonesian representatives at the 2014 Denmark Open Super Series Premier final, Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, failed to bring home the mixed doubles title from the tournament after being crushed by China's Xu Chen and Ma Jin in Odense on Sunday evening.

Tontowi and Liliyana made a good start in the first game as the Indonesian pair grabbed early control by initially leading 12 points to eight. Unfortunately, the world number three players, Xu and Ma, easily turned the tables with their polished skills and ended the game with a score of 22-20.

In the second game, the Chinese pair wasted no time making the scoreboard tick over in their favor. Xu and Ma proved too powerful for Tontowi and Liliyana, ending with a score of 21-15. This was Tontowi and Liliyana's third consecutive year being defeated in the final round of the US$600,000 tournament.

'The Chinese pair changed their strategy in the middle of the first game and we were just not ready for that. We tried to collect points, but we made two unforced errors at critical moments,' Liliyana said after the match.

'In the second game, it was difficult for us to collect points and catch up to theirs. They somehow played more relaxed here than in the Asian Games, where we defeated them easily,' she added.

They had defeated Xu and Ma 21-12 and 21 -10 in the semifinal round of the quadrennial event held in Incheon, South Korea, where they won the silver medal after another China's pair Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei crushed them 21 -16 and 21-14 in the final.

With the Denmark win, Xu and Ma extended their 10 to five lead over Tontowi and Liliyana in the head-to-head count.

The top Indonesian mixed doubles pair, Tontowi and Liliyana, have yet to bag another title this year to add to their existing All England and Singapore Open Super Series.

Badminton powerhouse China is still dominating the tourna-ment, bringing home the women's doubles and women's singles titles.

Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang won easily against Japan's Misaki Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi, scoring 21 to 14 twice, while Li Xuerui played against compatriot Wang Yihan, winning 21 to 17 and 22 to 20.

In other final matches on Sunday, South Korea played against China. South Korea's Son Wan-ho faced China's Chen Long to fight for the men's singles honor, while Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong faced Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan for the men's doubles title.