Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn spilt blood, sweat and finally tears on Sunday as he became badminton world champion after an attritional 19-21, 21-18, 21-7 victory over Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in Copenhagen.
The 22-year-old world number three, who was runner-up a year earlier, is the first Thai to win the men’s singles title at the BWF World Championships.
World No. 4 Naraoka, also 22, put Kunlavut through an excruciating match of marathon rallies that lasted 109 minutes — one of the longest men’s singles matches ever.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kunlavut’s blood had to be wiped off the court several times as he threw himself around to keep the shuttle alive in a series of lengthy rallies.
“I’m very happy, this has been a dream for me since I was a child,” Kunlavut said. “When I was young I’d promised my coach that I would get the gold medal. He passed away and I dedicate this gold medal to him.”
“I had three targets when I was young — Olympic Games, world championships and All England [championships]. Now I have achieved one of those, so two are left,” eh said.
It was the second longest world championships men’s singles final, eclipsed only by the 124-minute epic between China’s Sun Jun and Denmark’s Peter Rasmussen in the inaugural world championships in 1977.
“I needed to be prepared for a long match with Kodai,” Kunlavut said. “We know each other’s game, because we have played since our junior days. You have to be very patient with him, and it was very tiring, so I didn’t have any energy left to celebrate.”
World No. 1 An Se-young enjoyed a more straightforward march to the women’s singles title when she beat Spain’s Carolina Marin 21-12, 21-10 in the final.
The top seed, who becomes South Korea’s first women’s world champion in the 46-year history of the event, sped to the title in just 42 minutes.
“I am the champion. I am so happy today,” An said. “I think I played well today because I enjoyed myself out there. I had so much fun.”
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS