Indian badminton player Kiran George won his second Super 100 title, as he clinched victory at the final of the 2023 Indonedia Masters on Sunday, 10 September. The 23-year-old defeated Japan’s Koo Takahashi by a margin of 21-19, 22-20.
George, who won the Odisha Open in 2022 by beating a strong opponent in Priyanshu Rajawat, started his campaign with a comfortable 21-13, 21-16 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu Kai.
He then had another fairly easy win in the round of 32, beating Singapore’s Jia Wei Joel Koh 21-14, 21-8. However, the task was cut out for him in the pre-quarterfinal, up against Japan’s Takuma Obayashi.
After losing the first set 18-21 in that fixture, George made a stunning comeback to secure 21-19, 21-19 wins over the next two sets, making it to the quarter-final.
He then defeated Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul 21-9, 21-19 in the quarter-final, before beating the 72nd ranked Indonesian shuttler, Tommy Sugiarto 23-21, 16-21, 21-8 in the semi-final.
George will now compete in the qualification match of the Hong Kong Open 2023, wherein he will be facing the 39th ranked Chi Yu Jen from the Chinese Taipei.
Whilst this is his second Super 100 title, George, who hails from Kochi and trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, has also won three BWF International titles.
He won the 2019 Ghana International by beating Azerbaijan’s Ade Resky Dwicahyo 25-23, 21-19, while a couple of years later, he won the 2021 Polish International by beating Singapore’s Jason The in the final. In last year’s Polish Open, he won the men’s open title by beating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chia-hao.
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