Lin Chun-Yi wasn’t sure he would even make it onto the court for the men’s singles final against Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2026.

But after sealing his maiden HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750 crown, the Chinese Taipei shuttler said every sacrifice had been worth it.

“I’m very happy because I didn’t initially plan to play, probably because my foot wasn’t feeling great,” Lin said. “But after playing until now, I’m very happy and also very moved.”

Lin flew out of the blocks with sharp counterattacking play that seemed to catch Christie off guard. He wrapped up the opening game 21-10 but knew the world No. 3 was more than capable of engineering a comeback.

Though Christie pushed harder in the second, Lin held firm, shutting down any chance of a turnaround, closing out the match 21-18 to take the title.

The win was especially meaningful for Lin, who had finished runner-up in his previous HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750 final in Shenzhen four months ago. This time, he felt the moment was truly his.

“I can’t quite express it, but it’s a very different feeling for me this time,” he said. “Perhaps that feeling is awakening in me, and I am looking forward to winning a lot more matches in the future.”

Despite the defeat, Christie said his runner-up finish in New Delhi — following a semifinal run in Malaysia a week earlier — was encouraging ahead of his home tournament in Indonesia next week.

“It’s good results for two weeks in a row,” Christie said. “I think I have got more confidence going into the next tournament, so hopefully I will recover well.”

Christie was also generous in his praise for the 26-year-old Lin. “He’s a very good attacking player. He was hitting it so unbelievably well.”

→ Results (Day 6)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“We wanted revenge (for the Denmark Open 2025), but first, we prepared for today’s final. We prepared a lot and tried to get revenge, and we did it. Two weeks ago in the final, both of us were in good form, but today we just wanted to play well. Thanks to my partner, she has great spirit. It was a difficult game today, and now we only want to go home.” – Tan Ning after she and her partner Liu Sheng Shu defeated Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in the final of the women’s doubles.

“If we lift, we die. I know they really attack when we lift. So I talked with her about where to fight. She needed to fight in the front. If she didn’t fight there, it would be difficult. In the second game, we thought we had nothing to lose. We just played, not thinking too much, and didn’t give up. I told her she needed to fight. If she didn’t fight, she couldn’t learn. She needed to learn through the game.” – Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh after he and partner Supissara Paewsampran saved four match points in the second game to eventually win the mixed doubles title against Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje of Denmark.