By Oh Kyu-wook



Korean badminton doubles pair Lee Yong-dae and Jung jae-sung failed Sunday to defend their Korea Open title after a heartbreaking loss to World No. 1 duo Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China at the finals in Seoul.

The Lee-Jung team, who were looking to win their third consecutive Korea Open title, lost to the Chinese pair in a close three-end match 21-18, 17-21, 19-21 after more than an hour and 30 minute-long match.

The current world No. 2 Korean pair finished the 2011 season on a positive note by grabbing the men’s doubles title in Denmark and also the French Open title, beating the world No. 1 Chinese pair in both finals.

And they were looking to continue their hot streak against the Chinese rivals at the home competition. Lee and Jung, however, failed to do so with a couple of decisive errors in the final set. The loss would also affect their campaign ahead of the London 2012 Olympics in July.

On Sunday, the Korean champions started brilliantly after taking a hard fought first set 21-18. But from then on the world No. 1 pair were sharp and agile, giving the Lee-Jung team little chance to score to win the second set.

The Korean pair seemed to rediscover their rhythm in the third set, edging their way back into a 15-9 lead, before the Chinese duo rattled off six point to tie it 16-16.

Then the Koreans made successive crucial mistakes, allowing the Chinese pair to win the final set 21-19 to take the title.

The Korea Open, the first of the 12 Super Series events hosted by the Badminton World Federation. It is the most lucrative badminton tournament, offering a $1 million total purse. The Chinese world No. 1 team took home $79,000 with Sunday’s victory.

(596story@heraldcorp.com)