OSAKA: Home favourites Kenta Nishimoto and Akane Yamaguchi thrilled the crowd at badminton’s Japan Open in Osaka on Sunday, winning the men’s and women’s singles titles for the host country. World number 21 Nishimoto stunned Taiwan’s number four seed Chou Tien-chen 21-19, 21-23, 21-17 to finally claim his first international title, having lost in his previous six final appearances. Nishimoto’s win gave the home crowd something to cheer after Japan’s number two seed Kento Momota lost in the first round earlier in the week. Chou, who reached the semi-finals of last week’s world championships in Tokyo, is known as badminton’s comeback king but he could not find a way past Nishimoto in the third game. Yamaguchi gave Japan another gold medal to celebrate when she beat South Korea’s An Se-young 21-9, 21-15 in the women’s final. Yamaguchi retained her world title last week in Tokyo and she still had enough left in the tank to win her third tournament of the year. In women’s doubles, South Korea’s Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong beat their compatriots Baek Ha-na and Lee Yu-lim 23-21, 28-26 to win the title. Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chan took the honours in men’s doubles, beating Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-18, 13-21, 21-17. In mixed doubles, Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino 16-21, 23-21, 21-18.
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