Hong Kong: Li Shifeng walked into the Kowloon Coliseum like a man with a map to buried treasure, and dug out gold with a 21-15, 21-12 masterclass against India’s Lakshya Sen, completing a Chinese clean sweep at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 here on Sunday.
Five finals, five titles — the dragon roared, and badminton bowed.
Sen started like a shooting star, dazzling with deft touches to surge 4-0 in the first game. But Li, cool as a mountain stream and sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, flipped the script with a barrage of smashes and teasing net shots. From 4-1 up, the Indian found himself chasing shadows, the opener slipping away 15-21.
The second game was deja vu served on fine china. Sen sprinted to 4-1, his racket singing songs of hope, only for Li to answer with thunderbolts and velvet dribbles. A 33-shot rally at 8-12 was Sen’s badge of grit, but the Chinese ace, as steady as the Great Wall, kept piling the bricks. At 17-9, victory was a foregone conclusion; a cheeky crosscourt net flick sealed it in 46 minutes.
Yet, if Sen lost the crown, he won back belief. After a lean season dotted with early exits, he carved a path to his first final in ten months, scalping Wang Tzu-wei, HS Prannoy, Ayush Shetty, and outlasting Chou Tien Chen in a semifinal that had the crowd eating out of his hand.
China, meanwhile, painted the podium red: Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang snatched men’s doubles glory, Han Yue toppled An Se Young in women’s singles, Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan bossed women’s doubles, and Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong danced to gold in mixed. As Gill Clark quipped, it was a first-of-its-kind clean sweep in the World Tour era, history with a Chinese stamp.
Sen may have been felled, but like a lion licking its wounds, he’ll rise stronger. For now, Li Shifeng stands tall, a craftsman who stitched artistry and aggression into one glorious tapestry.
Finals results
Men’s singles: Li Shifeng (CHN) bt Lakshya Sen (IND) 21-15, 21-12
