BADMINTON/Taiwan duo wins first Taipei Open women's doubles title in 17 years

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton players Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈) won the women's doubles title at the Taipei Open on Sunday, becoming the first local women's team to win the tournament in 17 years.

Hsieh and Hung, the top seeds at the tournament, overpowered Mizuki Otake and Miyu Takahashi of Japan in Sunday's finals 21-14, 21-15 in 43 minutes.

In doing so, they became the first Taiwanese players to win the event's women's doubles title since Chien Yu-chin (簡毓瑾) and Cheng Wen-hsing (程文欣), who won the tournament for the fourth time in 2008.

The total prize money at the Super 300 tournament on the HSBC BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour is US$240,000.

Hsieh and Hung teamed up for the first time last June. They both attended Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Girls' Senior High School, where they were trained by Chien.

"The title means a lot to me. We have not been playing as partners for long, and we have had many arguments. But we have helped each other improve, and finally have this title," said Hung, who began competing in doubles competitions in 2023, after recovering from an earlier injury. 

Hung said she still plays singles, which she believes could give her and Hsieh an edge in reaching an even higher level.

"There was a time when we were stuck with semifinal or quarterfinal finishes. We did make great progress this year. Today, we won the title in front of the home crowd. I'm still struggling to find words because of my excitement," Hsieh said.

The world No. 13 women's doubles pair said their target this year is to break into the top 10 and stay there.

(By Li Chien-chung and Kay Liu)

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