KUALA LUMPUR: Another Lin Dan Cup appearance, another victory for independent shuttler Cheam June Wei.
The 27-year-old June Wei defeated China's Zhou Ze Qi 14-21, 21-6, 21-16 today to win the Macau Lin Dan Cup Badminton Open and pocket a 300,000 yuan (RM182,000) jackpot at Studio City Event Centre in Macau.
The amount eclipsed the US$31,500 (RM135,000) Denmark's Viktor Axelsen received for winning the Hong Kong Open on the same day.
June Wei had now took his combined earnings from the Lin Dan Cup to a cool 500,000 yuan (RM303,000), after having also pocketed 200,000 yuan (RM121,000) for winning the Shenzhen Lin Dan Cup Badminton Open in June.
June Wei's first-round exit at the Hong Kong Open, where he lost 21-10, 21-19 to Frenchman Christo Popov, turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Interestingly, the Lin Dan Cup was held only for two days from 14-15, hence June Wei might have made a well calculated move given the close proximity between Hong Kong and Macau, that he had decided to sign up for both.
Still, it takes tip-top fitness for June Wei to stand any chance of winning, as the tournament featured a gruelling format comprising group stage and knockout rounds.
With the exception of the final where the regular 21-point, best-of-three system was used, the tournament adopted a 31-point, one-game play for the rest of the fixtures.
In the semi-final, June Wei defeated Lu Jia Yu 31-17.
June Wei said: "I made the decision to enter both tournaments. If I were to do well in the Hong Kong Open, I would have forgone the Lin Dan Cup without a doubt.
"Still, it's really not easy to win, we actually need to play a total of seven matches over a 24-hour period, four in the group stage on day one and then three in the knockout the day after. On Sunday, my quarter-final, semi-final and final were scheduled for 9.30am, 10.30am and 1.30pm respectively.
"Also, the tournament was still a top quality one as there were some former national team members. The scoring format was also different too, so you really need to adapt to it well.
"I'm really happy to have won. The prize money is decent, although with a 20% tax deduction. This hard-earned money is important for my survivor as a professional player because it would help to fund my future tournament expenses on the BWF World Tour."