Although their wait for a title kept getting longer with each tournament, Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet never took their foot off the pedal in training.

That perseverance was rewarded on Sunday in Saarbrucken at the HYLO Open 2023, where they defeated Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati in the final to pick up their first winners’ medal since the 2019 Korea Masters.

Post-Gwangju, it would take Tang/Tse another two years to reappear in a final, which they lost at Indonesia Masters 2021 three months after falling in the Tokyo 2020 bronze medal playoff.

Tang says not dropping the intensity during practice despite the lack of success was the reason for their recent good form, which saw them finish runners-up at the Hong Kong Open in September and the French Open just a week earlier.

“In the past four years, we improved our overall ability and also different aspects of our game,” he said after the 57-minute 15-21 21-15 21-14 win.

“This victory will encourage us to go on (achieving better results), we will get a lot of confidence from the result here.”

Tse was all smiles post-match, as glory on German soil brought back pleasant memories from 13 years ago.

“For me, this is a special gift. My first title also came in this country,” she reminisced about winning the 2010 German Open as an 18-year-old alongside Wiratama Yohan Hadikusumo. “After 13 years, I’m happy to be a champion here again.”

→ Results (Finals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“I’m finally stress-free. People were expecting me to win the Pan Am (Games) and this tournament. I’ve done both and I think I can qualify for the World Tour Finals too. I can relax a little bit now.” – Beiwen Zhang

“We really wanted a title to boost our confidence and now we’ve done it. We will keep this spirit to go for more championships and strive to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.” – Liu Yu Chen on him and Ou Xuan Yi winning their first event of 2023

“I really wanted to come back and make history after losing the final last year. I’m delighted I did it.” – Chou Tien Chen, whose fourth title made him the tournament’s most successful men’s singles player