Liang Weikeng (R) and Wang Chang of China win men's doubles title at the Japan Open badminton championships in Osaka, Japan, September 4, 2022. /CFP
Chinese duo Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, who started to play together four months ago, took the men's doubles title at the Japan Open badminton championships in Osaka on Sunday.
They continued their giant-killing run by beating seventh seed Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 21-18, 13-21, 21-17 to win their first title of any kind.
"This is the biggest tournament I have played in my career," said Liang. "I have never seen such a medal before."
"I wished to run a victory lap inside the gymnasium, but I was too tired to run," said Wang.
Team China had a total of 29 players at the Japan Open but all their star players, including their Olympic and world champions, failed to reach the finals.
"Our goal is to break into the top 20 in the world rankings at the end of this year," said Wang. "So we can play the qualifying tournaments for the Paris Olympics."
Liang Weikeng (R) and Wang Chang of China celebrate after winning the men's doubles title at the Japan Open badminton championships in Osaka, Japan, September 4, 2022. /CFP
Japan Open badminton championships
The event took place from August 30 to September 4 in Osaka, Japan, with the prize money of $750,000.
Winners:
Men's singles: Kenta Nishimoto of Japan
Women's singles: Akane Yamaguchi of Japan
Men's doubles: Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China
Women's doubles: Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong of the Republic of Korea
Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand
(With input from Xinhua)