KUALA LUMPUR: World No 1 duo Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong today became the most successful mixed doubles pair in the history of the Petronas Malaysia Open.
The three-time world champions from China claimed their fourth straight title after scoring a dominant 21-19, 21-11 win over Japan's Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino in the final at Axiata Arena.
The feat saw the Si Wei-Ya Qiong surpassing the former record of three titles previously held by Tri Kusharjanto-Minarti Timur (Indonesia), who won in 1996, 1998 and 2000.
It was sweet revenge for Si Wei-Ya Qiong who lost to their world No 4 opponents in the semi-finals of the Japan Open last October.
It marked Si Wei-Ya Qiong's 12th win in 15 meetings between the two pairs.
"It wasn't exactly an easy game, even when we led by a big margin (14-6) in the second game, we had to really fight for every point," said Si Wei who speaks fluent English.
"They (Yuta-Arisa) are one of the best pairs in the world. To play against them, you need to be really patient. Their movement is really good and they are also very strong defensively."
Apart from their four Malaysia Open titles, Si Wei-Ya Qiong are also two-time winners of the Malaysia Masters.
Individually, Si Wei has also enjoyed success in Malaysia with different partners.
In 2017, Si Wei captured the Malaysia Open with Chen Qing Chen. He also won the Malaysia Masters with Li Yin Hui in 2016.
"There's just something special about Malaysia for me. Hopefully, Ya Qiong and I can keep winning here," said Si Wei.
Meanwhile, Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan made it a double for China by reclaiming their women's doubles crown.
The reigning world champions outplayed South Korea's Baek Ha Na-Lee Yu Lim 21-16, 21-10 in the decider. They previously won the title in 2019.
In the men's doubles final, world No 1 duo Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto nicked a title for Indonesia by downing China's Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang 21-18, 18-21, 21-13 to make amends for their runner-up finish last year.