Martin Breaks Chinese Domain at All England Badminton Championships

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, March 11, 2002

Martin Breaks Chinese Domain at All England Badminton Championships

Former world champion Denmark' s Camilla Martin beat four Chinese players in a row to win the women's singles title but China remained the biggest winner as they bagged two out of five titles and two silvers at the All England Badminton Championships Sunday in Birmingham.

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Better chance

Martin, who has long been the only European player to challenge China's monopolization of the women's singles event, made strong comeback in the second game when trailing 4-6 to defeat third seed Gong Ruina 7-5, 8-6, 7-3 in 47 minutes. In the men's singles final, second seed Chen Hong, last year's beaten finalist, shrugged off the disappointment after making short work of Indonesia's Budi Santoso in just 27 minutes 7-4, 7-5, 7-1 to win the trophy and top prize money of 10,000 U.S. dollars.

"I had expected this might be a very difficult match but Santoso failed to catch up with my rhythm. I was very surprised to see the match so one-sided.

"Last year's defeat was an encouragement for me to win the title. I knew I had a better chance this year because several top players skipped the tournament. And most importantly, I have always been in a superb form.

"My goal this year is to win the Thomas Cup men's team champion for our country and do well in the Asian Games. As for the long- term aim, I hope to win the gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games." Martin, world champion in 1999, had eliminated China's Xu Huaiwen in the third round, second seed Zhang Ning in the quarter- finals and Dai Yun in the last four en route to the final showdown with Gong.

Difficult to beat Chinese

"I didn't expect that I could beat four Chinese in a row," she said. "But I always feel ready before every tournament. I am very happy to to that. In fact, I will be very happy to beat the Chinese twice or three times a year."

But she admitted that it will be difficult in the future to defeat Chinese players. "I must be very realistic. They know they must work hard to beat me and most of the time, they succeed." The Dane also disclosed that she will hang on for another two years before calling it quit. "There is not much for me to achieve now. I have won the world champion, and also an Olympic silver. After the 2004 Olympic Games, it's finished.

"It will not be me in Europe to beat the Chinese then," she said.

Defending champion Gao Ling/Huang Sui retained their women's doubles title by beating Wei Yili/Zhang Jiewen 7-3, 7-5, 8-7 in an all-Chinese final.

The other two champions were both won by South Korea, with Ha Tae-Kwon/Kim Dong-Moon defeating England's Eng Hian/Flandy Limpele, 7-3, 7-5, 8-7 in the men's doubles and Kim Dong-Moon/Ra Kyung-Min routing top seed Jens Eriksen/Mette Schjoldager of Denmark 7-3, 7- 3, 7-0 in the mixed doubles.

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