Indonesia’s Christie takes Asia badminton crown ahead of Paris Olympics

Jonatan Christie wins first continental title, establishing the 26-year-old as a medal contender at Paris 2024.

Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie clinched his maiden Badminton Asia Championships crown, seeing off Li Shi Feng in two sets.

Christie defeated home favourite Li 21-15, 21-16 in the tournament finale in the Chinese city of Ningbo on Sunday.

Earlier, China’s Wang Zhi Yi swatted aside compatriot Chen Yu Fei 21-19, 21-7 to claim the women’s singles title.

Wang’s victory came after world number one, South Korean An Se-young, was dumped out in the quarterfinals on Friday by China’s He Bingjiao.

An, the top seed in Ningbo, will still be the favourite to win gold at this summer’s Paris Olympics, but she has been struggling with a knee injury.

The men’s doubles title was claimed on Sunday by Chinese pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who dispatched Malaysian duo Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 21-17, 15-21, 21-10.

South Korean partners Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee took the women’s doubles title by beating China’s Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu 23-21, 21-12.

The prestigious annual tournament was the final chance for Asian players to seal a spot at the Olympics.