South Korea takes women’s singles, mixed doubles

South Korea’s Ga Ram Kim faces off against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki in the finals of the women’s singles in the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2023 at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.(LEIGH GASES)

South Korea took home two out of five titles in the first badminton 2024 Paris Olympics qualifier in the CNMI—the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2023—at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.
Ga Ram Kim faced off against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki in a tough women’s singles matchup. 

Kim held a steadfast defense in the first set as Miyazaki failed to properly place returns. The first set came and ended swiftly as Miyazaki committed errors while Kim pulled away for a 21-15 win. When it seemed like Kim would shut down Miyazaki in the second set though, Miyazaki put on the fight of her life as both took turns scoring.

Miyazaki was aiming at prolonging the match to a tie-breaking third set and that she did as the game was tied consecutively in the last points of the game. Eventually, Miyazaki came out victorious in an exciting battle for the title, 25-23.

South Korean mixed doubles partners Seung Chan Shin, left, and Chan Wang are the mixed doubles champions of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2023 at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.(LEIGH GASES)

However, the third set proved to be laborious for Miyazaki as Kim regrouped and took control and won the decisive third set, 21-13.

Kim is considered a qualifier and started from the bottom in this tournament as she was not in the main draw. She had to play in the qualifier last Tuesday to make it to the main draw, where she had to play against seeded players. In this week’s tournament, she’s still a qualifier and would have to play against seeded players again.

In the last event of the day, the mixed doubles, Chan Wang and Seung Chan Shin overpowered Japan’s Hashiru Shimono and Miku Shigeta 

The speedy Shimono and Shigeta were no match to the powerful and tactful Wang and Shin. Shin had actually competed earlier in the women’s doubles with partner Yu Lim Lee, but lost to Chinese-Taipei’s Hsu Ya Ching and Lin Wang Ching.

Wang and Shin had better returns and caused Shimono and Shigeta to commit crucial mistakes. The first set was a no-doubt win for South Korea, 21-13. 

Shimono and Shigeta tried to rebound in the second set and force a tiebreaking third set, but Wang and Shin still overpowered and dominated with their hard kills and well placed returns, for a 21-15 win.

Today is the start of the TakeCare Saipan International 2023 from 3pm to 9pm. Tomorrow’s action is from 10am to 9pm; Thursday’s games are from 12pm to 9pm; and Friday is from 1pm to 9pm. Semis matches on Saturday will be from 1pm to 9pm, while finals in the men’s and women’s singles and men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles are slated for Sunday, June 18, from 12pm to 5pm.