Kunlavut Vitidsarn became the first Thai men’s singles player to claim the Asian title after his victory at the US$500,000 (approx 17.3 million baht) Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, on Sunday.
Kunlavut claimed his maiden Asian crown after his Chinese opponent Lu Guangzu pulled out with what looked like a back injury while trailing 6-11 in the second game.
Kunlavut took the opening game 21-12.
With the victory, Kunlavut is projected to rise to No.2 in the world — the highest ranking of his career so far — when the new rankings are released on Tuesday.
The upshot capped off a remarkable two-year span for the 23-year-old Thai star, who claimed the world title in 2023 and an Olympic silver medal last year.
World No.5 Kunlavut will defend his world title in Paris in August.
Earlier, China’s Chen Yufei was crowned Asian women’s singles champion for the first time after a come-from-behind victory over her compatriot Han Yue.
Chen, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist, fought back from a game down to beat second seed Han 11-21, 21-14, 21-9 in an hour and six minutes.
Chen, 27, finished runner-up twice in 2018 and 2024 and won bronze two times in 2019 and 2023.
In the mixed doubles event, fifth seeds Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong defeated eighth seeds Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito of Japan 21-15, 17-21, 21-13 in 61 minutes.
It was the first time since 2015 that there were no Chinese players in the mixed doubles final of the Asia Championships. China won every mixed doubles title since 2016.
In the women’s doubles competition, top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning claimed the second title for the Chinese contingent after they defeated third seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan 21-15, 21-19.
