Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi needed just two tournaments to win their first HSBC BWF World Tour title at the Orléans Masters 2023 on Sunday.

The Chinese youngsters made their Tour bow at the Thailand Masters in late January before winning the Super 100 Ruichang China Masters three weeks ago.

And in their second Grade 2 event, having started in the qualifiers, the world No.81 pair went all the way, beating third seeds Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana in straight games (21-19 21-17) in the final.

“We were grateful for this chance to compete with our excellent opponents,” said the 19-year-old Liu. “(We were surprised) our levels were similar, there wasn’t a big difference between us. We train with some seasoned pairs so we were not afraid to play the Indonesians.”

Chen and Liu only came together in October at the Indonesia International Challenge. They bagged their first title – Vietnam International Series – a month later.

Chen, three years Liu’s senior, is convinced there is more to come from the duo.

“China have some experienced men’s pairs but we are not too bad ourselves,” he said.

Another young star to announce his arrival was men’s singles winner Priyanshu Rajawat, who was taken to three games by his fellow 21-year-old first-time finalist, Dane Magnus Johannesen.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I could win (at the start of competition) but I played my best and that proved enough. I’m very happy,” said the Indian after his 21-15 19-21 21-16 victory.

Meanwhile, women’s singles top seed Carolina Marin ended her two-year wait for a World Tour crown by beating Beiwen Zhang 25-23 9-21 21-10 in 65 minutes.

Marin, whose most recent title was the 2021 Swiss Open, has now won her last seven duels with her American opponent.

→ Results (Finals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“We must stay humble and keep improving everyday. This is a big step for our partnership but the first small step for the rest of the year. Qualifying for the Olympics, that’s the ultimate target.” – Chen Tang Jie after he and Toh Ee Wei picked up their first title four months after pairing up

“We are becoming more of a team. We learned a lot about each other here.” – Fikri

“My main goal for this week was to improve my game and I think I’m on track. I have to keep believing in myself.” – Marin

“Our focus for the European leg was to win all the Super 300s.Unfortunately we couldn’t in Spain.” – women’s doubles champion Rena Miyaura