Si Wei-Ya Qiong bag fourth consecutive Malaysia Open title

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — The Axiata Arena continues to be world number one Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong’s happy hunting ground as the China pair romped to their fourth straight mixed doubles title in the 2023 Malaysia Open badminton championships today.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallists needed just 44 minutes to down world number four Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-19, 21-11 in the final to add to their victories in 2018, 2019 and 2022.

The tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 28-year-old Ya Qiong, who could barely contain her excitement after winning the 2023 season-opener, is determined to do better than or at least equal last year’s feat of winning 10 titles. 

“Yuta-Arisa are not an easy pair, so we played with more patience in the second game. I hope after this, we can be more consistent (to win more tournaments). I must admit that communication with Si Wei is vital,” she said through a translator. 

Si Wei, 25, said the victory had boosted their confidence to do well in the 2023 India Open, which begins on Tuesday (Jan 17). 

NMT as reported by Bernama