New Delhi: World number one Lee Chong Wei and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk recorded contrasting wins to clinch the men's and women's singles titles of the inaugural Indian Open badminton championship here on Sunday.
Lee, a two-time All England champion, continued his dominance over Peter Gade Christensen in the Super Series events as the Malaysian defeated the experienced Danish shuttler 21-12, 12-21, 21-15 in an hour-long summit clash.
Lee pocketed the winner's prize of USD 15,000 at the Siri Fort Complex.
In the women's singles final, Thailand's unseeded Porntip made short work of Youn Joo Bae as she defeated the third-seed South Korean 21-13, 21-16 in 31 minutes to win the first super series title of her career.
The capacity crowd present inside the venue could not have asked for better showdown as Gade's athleticism was on full display and he did not allow the reigning All England champion Lee to make the clash one-sided.
Lee played fluently and was superb with his drop shots.
He enthralled the crowd, which was chanting his name relentlessly, with some exciting retrieves.
The 34-year-old Gade, whose passage to the final was a result of lot of hard work coupled with experience, was in his prime form on Sunday as on many occasions he retrieved the shuttle from near impossible positions at the back court during the long rallies and also unleashed a flurry of smashes, much to the delight of weekend crowd.
Gade was keen to improve his 1-11 head-to-head record against Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lee prior to Sunday's meeting and after winning the second game with his age-defying fitness, it looked like the Danish shuttler will turn the clock back on the Malaysian.
Lee was all praise for his opponent.
"Gade played really well today. This complex has proved to be lucky for me. In the second game, I lost my confidence and focus but in the third I gained it and went on to securing a win," Lee said after winning the match.
"Gade planned everything to perfection today. His fighting spirit, his experience all were on display today. He is a very good player and it is always a pleasure to play against him," added Lee.
It was Lee's 12th victory in 13 meetings with Gade in Open tournaments and eighth Super Series title overall.
Gade, seemingly disappointed after losing a close tie, said, "It's been tough match as he is the world number one and full of confidence. He is the best player in the world. If he is self-confident like this, he is unbeatable. I was leading in the third game at one stage, but he got the momentum back."
"I wish I would have won today. I am proud of my performance. I would again like to be back in India for another series and may be for the last time. I am 34, witnessing the end of my career. May be another one and a half year to go and then I'll stop."
In the first game, Gade was up on his feet during the long rallies and opened up a narrow 4-2 lead but Lee reduced the gap with better net play and finished off the first game in style with a drop at 21-12.
Gade then showed his age-defying fitness and fought tooth and nail in the second game to level make it 8-8 at one stage.
He widened the gap with his controlled long rallies and did not allow Lee to make a comeback into the game.
At 9-11, Gade was unlucky with a line call that went against him, though Lee had hit the shuttle out. Gade pleaded with the umpire with the crowd firmly behind him but to no avail.
After that, Lee broke away with big strides to extend the lead to 13-10 and 19-14 to win the match in the presence of Sports Minister Ajay Maken.
Meanwhile, in an all-Indonesian affair in the mixed- doubles final, Tantowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir defeated Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth 21-18, 23-21.
Tantowi and Liliyana beat their countrymen in 43 minutes in the first super series final of the day. This is Indonesia's first Super Series title of the season.
The last time Indonesia won a Super Series event was in November last year when Taufik Hidayat clinched the men's singles title in the French Super Series.
In the women's doubles final, Japanese top seeds Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna beat compatriots Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa 26-24, 21-15.
In the men's doubles final, Japanese fourth seeds Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata defeated Indonesians Angga Pratama and Ryan Agung Saputra 21-17, 21-09.
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