The 2016 Macau Open Badminton Grand Prix Gold was held from the 29th of November to the 4th of December for six consecutive days at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion. The China team, comprised mainly of young players, became the biggest winner, sweeping four champion titles out of five events. Chinese Taipei's Lee Yang and Lee Jhe Huei withstood huge pressure to beat China's Zhang Nan and Lu Kai 2-1 at the Men's Doubles, claiming the last gold of the tournament. China's Zhao Junpeng, the Men's Singles gold medalist who defeated Chinese Taipei's top player Chou Tien Chen in two straight sets, was thrilled about the victory and thanked Macau fans for their support.
In Men's Singles, Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen has overcome several Chinese players on his way to the final and ran into yet another one at the battle for champion title. His opponent, Zhao Junpeng of China, had beaten Wang Tzu Wei in the semi-final 2-1 from the first set down, preventing Chinese Taipei from monopolizing the Men's Singles final.
Considered as the spotlight of the Grand Prix, the battle between Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen and China's Zhao Junpeng was not a tense one. Zhao obtained the first game victory easily with 21-11, and then kept the advantage by winning the second game with 21-19, claiming the champion title.
The first match on the final day was the Mixed Doubles. Li Nan and Li Yinhui won a 21-19 and 21-15 straight-sets victory over Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Sue, taking the first gold for China. The Women's Singles final is a competition within the China team, where Chen Yufei beat her teammate Chen Xiaoxin 21-13 and 21-18 to be the champion. At Women's Doubles final, the Chinese duo of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan played against Indonesia's Anggia Shitta Awanda and Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istirani. The Chinese pair is significantly stronger than their opponents and easily won the match with 21-15 and 21-13 to secure the fourth gold for the team.
At the final of the Men's Doubles, the last match of the Grand Prix, Zhang Nan, the senior player on the current China team, partnered with Lu Kai to face the second-seeded Lee Yang and Lee Jhe Huei of Chinese Taipei. Zhang and Lu took the first set with 21-17. The fierce second set saw two sides equalizing the score one after another before Lee/Lee caught the chance to grab two critical points, beating the game with 21-18 and tying the China team 1-1. At the decider and the most gripping battle, the score seesawed. At 17-15, slightly prevailing Zhang/Lu encountered an aggressive attack from their opponents and lost three straight points to 17-18. Although they struggled against pressure to bring the two sides level to 19-19, they couldn't stop Lee/Lee from taking the next two points to 21-19 and reversing the match 2-1 to win the gold medal.
The Macau Open Badminton Grand Prix Gold is sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF), organized by Badminton Federation of Macau and officially sponsored by Macau Sports Bureau, with more than 230 players from 18 countries and regions taking part. In addition to the 16-year-old Pui Pang Fong, Macau's home team also sent 12 young players, including Ng Weng Chi, Gong Xue Xin, Kuan Chi Leng, Chan Kit Lei, Ao I Kuan, Lam Hou Him, Ao Fei Long, Leong Iok Chong, Che Pui Ngai, Ho Wang Hei and Vong Kok Weng, to participate in the singles and doubles matches.
