Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo secured his biggest career title after winning the Malaysia Masters as the Indonesian dominated from start to finish to beat Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 22-20, 21-15 for the men’s singles crown.
Wardoyo only made the main draw of this Super 500 event following the withdrawals of other top names like Viktor Axelsen, Anders Antonsen and Lee Zii Jia.
The 24-year-old took full advantage of it to show his talent by going the distance, including the 45-minute victory over Ng in the final.
Wardoyo found that extra bid of quality at the end of the first game, before surging to a 15-10 lead in the second that paved the way for the win.
“This is a dream come true. I just came out to enjoy this match and stayed focused throughout,” said Wardoyo after the match.
Wardoyo also pocketed US$27,000 (RM119,529) as champion, the same amount An Se-young took home after she blew away Chen Yu Fei 21-17, 21-5 to win the women’s singles title in 38 minutes.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight! I have been studying her game through video footage of our previous matches. But I wasn’t thinking of beating any specific opponent, instead only improving my overall ability,” said the South Korean.
All the finals matches were over in straight games.
The women’s doubles saw top seeds Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan beat Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida 21-11, 21-12, while in the mixed doubles Zheng Si Wei-Ya Qiong also comfortably disposed Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari 21-17, 21-12.
The last match-up saw Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto defeat compatriots Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan 21-12, 21-19 for the men's doubles title.
