Related News

HomeSportsBadminton

Lin leads China clean sweep

WORLD and Olympic champion Lin Dan clinched his fourth All England title as China swept four finals in Birmingham yesterday.

The former world No. 1 eased to a 21-19, 21-12 victory over current top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

Unseeded Wang Yihan added the women's singles title to China's haul when she stunned world No. 1 Tine Rasmussen of Denmark 21-19, 21-23, 21-11 in a thrilling final.

Earlier, third seeds He Hanbin and Yu Yang set the ball rolling for China by beating unseeded South Koreans Ko Sung-hyun and Ha Jung-eun 13-21, 21-15, 21-9 to take the mixed doubles crown.

The women's doubles title also went to the Asian powerhouse as seventh-seeded Zhang Yawen and Zhao Tingting saw off unseeded compatriots Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei 21-13, 21-15 in the final.

The mixed doubles final could also go China's way as Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, the seventh seeds, were taking on South Korea's Han Sang-hoon and Hwang Ji-man in the title-decider.

Lin's match with Lee was a re-run of last year's Olympic final in Beijing where Lin won 21-12, 21-8.

It was a tougher going yesterday but, apart from a brief spell in the first game when the top seed led 19-17 Lin, seeded two, was in control.

He rattled off four points in a row to take the game and then produced an even better effort in the second, reeling off seven points in succession to race from 14-12 to 21-12 and victory.

It was a ninth triumph over his big rival in their last 10 meetings and a boost for the Chinese as he seeks to regain his place at the top of the world rankings.

Lin, making his sixth appearance in a row in the final, had won the title previously in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

Keen to get through a news conference so he could go shopping, the Chinese told reporters: "There were a couple of times in the first game when I was not quite handling it but I managed to keep my form and I think I played well."

A capacity crowd of around 4,500 at the National Indoor Arena warmed to a high-class contest and there was plenty of encouragement for the runner-up.

 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend