Hsieh Pei Shan and Hung En-Tzu were overcome with joy after ending Chinese Taipei’s 17-year wait for a women’s doubles crown at their home tournament, incidentally emulating their high school coach Chien Yu-Chin’s victory from 2008.

Prepared and focused, Hsieh and Hung needed just 43 minutes to dispatch Mizuki Otake/Miyu Takahashi 21-14 21-15 in the YONEX Taipei Open final and bag their first title as a pair. Chien’s own triumph came alongside Cheng Wen-Hsing.

“We are very proud of ourselves. This is such a meaningful achievement, we are over the moon to have made coach Chien proud. We will remember this moment for a long time,” said Hsieh.

The 27-year-old admitted their Japanese opponents’ cautious approach played into their hands.

“It was obvious they didn’t want to lift the shuttle, so I told En-Tzu to shut down the front two corners. That forced them to send the shuttle back, giving me the opportunity to step in and attack,” she explained.

Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin later made it a double for the hosts with a 21-18 21-15 win over Koreans Kang Min Hyuk/Ki Dong Ju to claim the men’s doubles crown. It is their first victory as a pair, though Wang had won the tournament twice with Chen Hung-Ling (2017-2018).

“I feel incredibly happy to win again in front of the home crowd,” said Wang. “Now that I’m playing alongside a younger teammate, I’m also proud to help guide him. I hope we can carry this momentum into upcoming tournaments and keep pushing forward.”

Chinese Taipei, however, could not make it three out of three after Chou Tien Chen fell to Loh Kean Yew in the men’s singles final.

Loh’s win ended a 14-month title drought dating back to the 2024 Spain Masters and marked a strong start to his partnership with coach Kim Ji-Hyun. It also made him the first Singaporean winner in the tournament’s 45-year history.

“It’s a step forward, it shows we are heading in the right direction,” Loh said. “Hopefully, we keep this going.”

→ Results (Finals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“Absolutely delighted. First time playing here and we’ve won our maiden (HSBC BWF) World Tour title. This is what we’ve been working for, but hopefully, it’s just the beginning. There’s a lot more we want to achieve.” – Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu, mixed doubles winner with Jafar Hidayatullah

“I was really nervous at the start but I wanted to give something back to everyone in the crowd cheering for me.” – Women’s singles champion Tomoka Miyazaki after battling to a 72-minute win over Pitchamon Opatniputh