Denmark, Japan sweep two titles each in Malaysian GP Gold

The Danish women's doubles pair Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl, the top seeds, were clearly in a class of their own when they demolished Japan's Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao 21-14, 21-14.

Christinna once again emerged on the winning podium after partnering Joachim Fischer Nielsen in the mixed doubles final to beat Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto of Indonesia, who were also runners-up of the same competition last year, in Johor Baharu, 21-18, 21-18.

Japan's disappointment in the women's doubles events were somewhat rewarded in the women singles, when Sayaka Takahashi beat compatriot Nozomi Okuhara 21-13, 21-17 in an All-Japan affair.

Japan picked up another victory when the men's doubles pair of Kenta Kazuno/Kazushi Yamada shocked eighth seeds from Taiwan, Chen Hung Ling/Wang Chi-Lin, 21-19, 14-21, 21-17.

The only title that got away from the two countries was the men's singles which saw an All-South Korean affair between veteran Lee Hyun Il, 34, and Jeon Hyeok Jin, 20.

Hyun Il, ranked 38th in the world, lost in the first set 19-21, but came back strongly to win the second set 21-13, and used his vast experience to subdue his younger opponent 21-15.

The champions in the men's and women's singles won US$9,000 (RM32,000), runners-up US$4,560 (RM16,000), men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles received US$9,480 (RM34,000) while the runners-up received US$4,560 (RM16,000).

The championships which offered an overall prize money of US$120,000 (RM428,000), was jointly organised by the Badminton Association of Malaysia and Sarawak Badminton Association, and sanctioned by the World Badminton Federation and the Asian Badminton Confederation.