Taiwan badminton ace Chou bags 4th Hylo Open title in Germany

Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) Taiwanese shuttler Chou Tien-chen (周天成) clinched his fourth Hylo Open title after defeating Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu (李卓耀) in the men’s singles final in Saarbrücken, Germany on Sunday.

It took Chou 63 minutes to defeat Lee 21-23, 21-17, 21-10 at the Saarlandhalle arena.

The lead changed hands several times in the opener, with Chou and Lee leveling at 21-21 before the latter scored two consecutive points to win the first game.

The players continued their back and forth in the second game, with Lee eventually establishing a two-point advantage at the interval.

Chou then clawed his way back to an 11-10 lead and held firm to give himself a 20-17 advantage before seeing out the second game 21-17 to tie up the contest.

In the rubber, Chou maintained his aggressive play, establishing a wide lead to seal the third game 21-10 and clinch the title.

With the win, Chou, the world No. 13, extended his head-to-head record against Lee to 8-4.

Speaking to CNA after the tournament, Chou said he kept his mind on the game and tried to secure every point he could.

“Mentally, I always believed in myself, showing my best side by constantly attacking,” he said.

The victory on Sunday was Chou’s fourth Hylo Open title, having won the men’s singles tournament, then known as the Bitburger Open, for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2014.

It was also the Taiwanese shuttler’s first men’s singles title since winning the Taipei Open last July.

This year’s edition of the Hylo Open, a Badminton World Federation Super 300 tournament, was held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5.