Gold Coast player Birrell was defeated 6-4 6-3 by rising Indonesian Janice Tjen in Sunday's final -- a bitter disappointment as it was her second defeat in a championship match in Asia after also losing the Osaka final last year.
But seventh seed Birrell clearly wasn't at her sharpest after battling through an exhausting semi-final 24 hours earlier against Taiwan's Joanna Garland, in which the courageous Australian battled back from 5-0 down in the final set and saved five match points on the way to victory in three hours 24 minutes.
Still, it wasn't just Birrell's never-say-die performance in the longest match of her career that caught the admiration of organisers so much as her admirable concern for beaten opponent Garland, who struggled with the effects of cramp and injury when on the verge of victory.
At one point, slumping with illness at the back of the court, Garland needed medical treatment, leaving the Aussie showing concern for her condition.
Then, once Birrell finally prevailed, she was more interested in hugging and consoling her vanquished opponent than revelling in one of the key breakthrough moments in her career.
"She's a great player and a great person too -- we have a friendship off the court and you have to put that aside," Birrell said of Garland.
"When your opponent and a friend is struggling like that, it's really hard to concentrate and to focus. That was not fun at all the last few games."
Ultimately, Birrell ended in tears herself, after then being presented with the tournament's Margaret Amritraj Fairplay Award for her display of sportsmanship.
The award is named in honour of the mother of Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj, who told Birrell: "This is named after my mom for fair play, and I thought this match was truly one of those matches."
The final, though, again proved too much for the 27-year-old Birrell as she went down to fourth seed Tjen, getting her serve broken five times in all during the two-hour duel.
The disappointment for world No.117 Birrell was tempered by how her run to the final will now take her back into the world's top 100 this week at No.94. Top Australian woman in the rankings back at the start of the year, she had dropped to no.5, but will rise one place after her big week.
Meanwhile, in the Hong Kong Open final, young Canadian star Victoria Mboko managed to achieve what had just eluded another rising teen, Australian Maya Joint, in the the semi-final as she overcame Spain's Cristina Bucsa for a 7-5 6-7 (9-11) 6-2 triumph.
