Singapore’s Jason Teh brushed aside Japanese Yudai Okimoto 21-14, 21-15 in the men’s singles final of the Korea Masters badminton tournament on Sunday for his second major career title. The top seed lived up to his billing in the South Korean city of Iksan, as he did not drop a set in five matches en route to his second Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 title of the year.
After clinching his first men’s singles title at the Thailand Masters in February, Teh suffered multiple early exits in his next 16 tournaments until his title victory in South Korea.
“I feel really, really lucky and relieved to win my second title,” he said. “Every match at this level is tough, and it gets even tougher as the tournament progresses — especially the final. I think I’ve learnt to deal better with pressure. Even though I was the top seed here, I didn’t think of myself as the favourite. I just wanted to play each match with 100 per cent effort.”
An elated national singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun said: “I’m very proud of Jason. His attacks were working well and he maintained his cool throughout the match, waiting for the right moments to strike. We will continue to work on his consistency and greater variations in his gameplay. I have been talking with him often and told him to be brave and believe in himself. Of course, we will be targeting for medals at the SEA Games.”
The world number 26 will now head to the city of Kumamoto to take part in the Japan Masters. He will join fellow Singaporean and world number 9 Loh Kean Yew in the main draw of the BWF Super 500 tournament, where Thailand’s third-ranked Kunlavut Vitidsarn will be the top seed.