Korea repeats unique feat at Thailand Open 2023

Published at :June 6, 2023 at 3:22 AM

Modified at :June 6, 2023 at 3:22 AM

An Se Young continued her fine run with her fourth title of the year.

Korea made a unique record at the recently concluded Thailand Open 2023 where they became the only nation to win three titles (in a single tournament) twice in the last 13 years.

The Asian side first achieved this unique feat during the 2015 edition of the Thailand Open by winning the men's singles, women's singles and mixed doubles titles. Lee Hyun Li (fourth seed) defeated Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia in three games (21-17, 22-24, 21-18) to clinch the Men's Singles title. His teammate, Sung Ji Hyun (2nd seed) defeated Liang Xiaoyu of Singapore in two easy games (21-11, 21-14) and claimed the women's single’s title.

In the end, the third title was won by the unseeded pair of Choi Sol-gyu/Eom Hye-won, who defeated third seed Praveen Jordan/Deeby Susanto of Indonesia in a thriller three games match (21-19,17-21,21-16) to clinch the Mixed Double’s titles.

South Korea repeat historic feat at Thailand Open 2023

After eight years, Korea once again repeated the historic feat winning three out of the five titles (women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles category). Top seed An Se Young defeated He Bing jiao of China in straight games (21-10, 21-19) and recorded her fourth BWF tour title in 2023. Another top seed pair Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong defeated home favourites Aimsaard’s Sisters comprehensively in straight games (21-13, 21-17) to clinch the women's Doubles titles.

The fifth seed pairing of Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun defeated top seed and home favourites Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanchai of Thailand in a thriller match (11-21, 21-19, 22-20) lasting an hour and 20 minutes to clinch the mixed doubles titles.

The last nation to achieve this feat was China in 2011 when they won titles in men's singles, women's singles and men's doubles categories. After that, there were several nations that have won two titles but none other than Korea has won three titles in the same edition. China had a chance to clinch three or more titles in the 2019 edition of the Thailand Open when they had four finalists but managed to win only two (women's singles and mixed doubles).