Having fallen in the final of the last two editions of the Swiss Open, Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie made no mistake in their third opportunity. The Malaysian mixed doubles duo outgunned compatriots Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei for their first HSBC BWF World Tour title in nearly six years at the YONEX Swiss Open 2024.

“This is our third year here, and we really wanted the gold,” said Lai. “We didn’t give up, we were steady from the first match and we supported each other no matter what happened on and off the court. We stayed on the attack and that gave us the advantage.

“Our emotional control was much better today. We didn’t put ourselves in a tight situation today, we kept believing in ourselves. We knew what we would do if we were cornered. It’s definitely a good confidence boost for us.”

Finals day of the Swiss Open saw some sensational matches.

Both Lin Chun-Yi in men’s singles and Carolina Marin in women’s singles emerged victorious by the thinnest of margins. Lin saved four match points against senior compatriot Chou Tien Chen in the second game and then survived a late comeback from his opponent to clinch the match 7-21 22-20 23-21.

The women’s singles was just as keenly fought. Marin took home her second title in two weeks beating Gregoria Mariska Tunjung after saving two match points, 21-19 13-21 22-20.

“I fought until the end even when the game was a bit tough,” said Marin. “It was important to keep fighting and I gave my best on court. It’s not about the winning or not, but about the way I want to keep improving my game and myself.

“I made some mistakes and I gave a bit of confidence to my opponent. But in the third game I wanted to keep my focus on the things I have to do against her.”

In men’s doubles, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy were involved in a titanic struggle with Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana; the English duo saved two game points in the first and four in the second to prevail in a cracker of a contest, 24-22 28-26 – giving them their first title since the Orleans Masters (Super 100) three years ago. It was also their first HSBC BWF World Tour title.

“Winning a tournament gives you massive confidence,” said Lane. “We haven’t won a tournament for two or three years, so to stand on top of the podium is what we train for every single day.

“It obviously means everything to us. It wasn’t the easiest start to the year, we had some tough draws, but we have also been playing some good badminton. So we know we are capable of producing results like this. We are very good friends, when one of us is struggling, we pick each other back up. That’s what good partners do. We’ve learnt that over the years, which is why we are still able to, even at tough times, produce good results. You just have to find a way sometimes when you are losing.”

World No.32 Indonesians Lanny Tria Mayasari/Ribka Sugiarto also won their first HSBC BWF World Tour crown, easing through in the third game against Hsu Ya Ching/Lin Wan Ching 13-21 21-16 21-8.

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WHAT THEY SAID

“This is my first final of the year, and I’m happy with my performance. Marin was calmer at crucial points and controlled the points well. This final makes me more motivated to continue my performance going forward.” – Tunjung

“I wanted to show fighting attitude here. In the first game I controlled the tempo and I was comfortable, but in the second game he sped up, and his smash was really strong. It was really hard and tight and I had four championships chances but unfortunately I could not catch it. I need to learn this lesson, I need to be better next time.” – Chou

“I’m very happy. I just tried not to give up after losing the first game.” – Lin

“It was almost like home with all the Indonesian supporters. Once we got used to the patterns of our opponents in the first game, we changed our approach and that helped us win.” – Sugiarto

“Luckily I could get back on court. It was almost a winning shot and I missed it. It’s a bit stiff. Thankfully I was able to carry on and win the game, because I’m not sure I would’ve been able to play a third. Credit to our resilience, really. We said to each other, let’s do this. We just stuck together. Our togetherness took us over the line.” – Vendy