| Fadhil Yunus |
FLORENCE Saw Sin Yee was crowned champion in the women’s singles of the Brunei National Badminton Tournament 2018 after defeating Siti Marinah binti Mohd Salleh in a straight-set 21-17 21-17 victory at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex last night.
It was a keenly-fought contest in the early stages as a see-saw battle meant it was little to choose from in the first 14 points but Florence reacted to open the gap and surged to an 11-8 lead at the interval.
Siti Marinah battled courageously to stage a revival as they were tied in points 13-13 before Florence converted four successive points in the opening set.
Siti Marinah responded with three straight points before Florence moved to set point and closed the first game after the former saved one set point.
Florence gained a slender advantage at the interval of the second set as Siti Marinah unlucky saw her shot hit the tape of the net before the shuttlecock dropped unfavourably at her side of the court.
“I tried my best for every shot and tried to make less mistakes,” said Florence in an interview with the Sunday Bulletin.
“I just made little mistakes and hit every shot, and my smashing was good as well,” she further said.
Florence mixed her game up with a variety of shot selection during the course of the game as she laid a series of crosscourt shots to unsettle her opponent.
The shuttler, who has joined the national tournaments numerous times, said that it was her biggest result in the competition.
The competition continues with the men’s singles final tonight with Ahmad bin Abdul Razak taking on Ahmad Mahyuddin bin Haji Abas.