By Kim Jae-won
Staff Reporter
South Korea's Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung beat Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand 21-8, 21-7 in the mixed doubles final at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series Korea Open, Seoul, Sunday.
The Beijing Olympic gold medallists overwhelmed their opponents with powerful smashes. Anugritayawon and Voravichitchaikul couldn't counterattack and gradually their confidence was sapped, leading to their eventual defeat. They were powerless and made a catalogue of mistakes. That was enough to focus Lee Yong-dae, who persistently honed in on their weaknesses.
The win represented the pair's second straight triumph in the event.
A healthy crowd gathered in the Second Olympic Gymnasium to watch the double act ease to victory. Badminton is becoming more popular in Korea, particularly since the Beijing Olympics in August last year when the country picked up three medals in the sport.
The Lees took gold in the mixed doubles, Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung added a silver in the women's doubles and Hwang Ji-man and Lee Jae-jin also managed bronze in the men's doubles. Lee Yong-dae, 21, has managed to attract a distinctly female following to the sport after affecting an alluring wink during medal ceremony. Some teenagers even cheered Lee while brandishing a signboard that read, "Wink Prince," also referring to his nickname.
Dubbed the "Gold Medal Siblings," the Lee-Lee combination have emerged as the new mixed doubles stars, succeeding Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min. The Kim-Ra team topped the Korea Open for six consecutive years from 1999 to 2004.
Two more South Korean teams advanced to final matches, but failed to clinch titles. Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung fell to Chien Yu-chin and Cheng Wen-hsing of Taiwan in the women's doubles, 19-21, 8-21. World No.2 Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae also lost to Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark in the men's doubles, 12-21, 22-24.
Denmark, meanwhile, also swept up singles titles. Peter Gade, the Danish player conquered world No.1 Lee Chong-wei of Malaysia in the men's singles, 21-18, 10-21, 21-17. The European nation's Tine Rasmussen took the women's singles title, defeating France's Hongyan Pi, 21-19, 21-19.