World No. 1 takes it easy against Arif in final

Lee Chong Wei was magnanimous in his win over Mohd Arif Abdul Latif in the men’s singles final of the National Circuit Grand Prix Finals yesterday. The world number one held back his game before stamping his mark to win 21-15, 21-16 in 35 minutes.
The win yesterday marked the ninth national title for Chong Wei, who will quickly shift his focus on defending his All-England title which starts on March 3-8 in Birmingham.
Arif, who has shown tremendous improvement since training under coach Hendrawan, tried to take the fight to the world number one.
But it was apparent that Chong Wei allowed the youngster to be in the game as he did play his usual blistering pace.
“I gave him some chance in the game just to keep his desire to play alive. It should be a good learning experience for him and I can see that he has vastly improved,” said Chong Wei.
Chong Wei last met Arif in the Perak Open semi-finals, where Chong Wei won 21-16, 21-8 in 23 minutes.
“I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to play Chong Wei today and I learned a lot from him,” said Arif.
“I know that I still lack the speed and strength and I will work on my weaknesses after this. I’m also more confident in my game as I’m regularly beating elite players now.”
Meanwhile, Tee Jing Yi managed to defend her women’s singles title despite a strong challenge from Sonia Cheah.
Jing Yi had to dig deep into her reserves before winning 14-21, 21-15, 21-14.
“I really wanted to defend my title this year and that piled the pressure on me,” said Jing Yi.
“But I found my game back to win the match.”
In the men’s doubles competition, a new champion was installed after Hoon Thien How-Tan Boon Heong defeated Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Ong Soon Hock 21-14, 10-21, 21-19 in a lengthy final match that lasted 51 minutes.
In the mixed doubles action, top seed Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying once again played bridesmaid in the GP Finals after losing to Boon Heong-Chin Eei Hui 13-21, 21-18, 21-16.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying, who lost to Fairuzizuan-Wong Pei Tty in the final in Johor Baru last year, was oozing with confidence when they took the first set from Boon Heong-Eei Hui in a commanding show.
However, experience came through for Boon Heong-Eei Hui in the end to seal the match despite strong resistance from Peng Soon-Liu Ying in the second and third sets.
In the women’s doubles, second seed Ng Poau Leng-Woon Khe Wei beat Chong Sook Chin-Goh Liu Ying 21-18, 21-10 to win the title.

courtesy of the star

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