Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen Snatches China Open Title At Age 36

Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen captured the China Open men’s singles title on Sunday, becoming the oldest champion in the category at age 36. The world No. 6 defeated France’s 27-year-old Toma Junior Popov in three games, 21-15, 7-21, 21-13, to win his first Super 1000 title since the Indonesia Open in 2019. Chou sealed the match in just over an hour in Changzhou in eastern China, after a video review confirmed Popov’s final return went out of bounds. An all-Taiwan hope was not present, but Popov reached the final seeking his first Super 1000 victory. In the women’s singles final, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi beat host Chen Yufei, 21-18, 21-16. Yamaguchi’s win mirrored last year’s World Championship final in Paris, which she also won.