Korea Masters 2024: Kunlavut Vitidsarn Ends Title Drought With Singles’ Win
Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand won the Korea Masters 2024 men’s singles title- his first crown since claiming the 2023 world championship title.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand won the Korea Masters 2024 men’s singles title- his first crown since claiming the 2023 world championship title.
The Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist and top seed in the tournament won the final in straight games (21-18, 21-18) over Wang Zheng Xing of China.
“Really happy because I hadn’t won a title this year,” said the Thai shuttler. “This tournament is special and I need to keep it going. I still have an injury, but I could control it. I need points for the World Tour Finals, and there are only two tournaments left.”
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Other Winners at Korea Masters 2024
Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia clinched the women’s singles crown, beating China’s Han Qian Xi. The 22-year-old beat Xi 21-14, 21-14 in the final. This is her first title since winning Orleans Masters (Super 100) in April 2022, while her last Super 300 title was the Spain Masters in May 2021.
She had reached the finals at the Taipei Open and the Hong Kong Open, besides finishing semifinalist at the Denmark Open this year.
“I feel very happy today I am able to be on the podium as the champion; my last time was in Spain 2021,” said Wardani. “I just went in with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude. In the last two tournaments in Taipei and Hong Kong I lost in the finals, so at this tournament I just played like I had nothing to lose.”
Paris Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik won their first title since last October’s Denmark Open 2023. The Malaysian pair prevail over Jin Yong/Kim Won Ho 21-23 21-19 21-14 in the final of the Korea Masters 2024.
“After the Olympics, Wooi Yik was recovering from an injury to his toe,” said Aaron Chia. “We are happy that we are slowly getting back. We shouldn’t have made so many unforced errors, so I was a bit frustrated.”
Chinese duo Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui secured their third title this year from four final appearances as the world they defeated Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-10 21-12 which was their second victory over the pair.
Also Read: BWF World Tour Finals 2024: Qualification Criteria, Players Who Have Qualified
Home favourite Kim Hye Jeong/Kong Hee Yong got the better of second seeds Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min 21-14 16-21 21-18 at the Korea Masters 2024 final. This was an upgrade from their last appearance at the Singapore Open 2019 where they finished runners-up.