Yu and Wang retain China Open title

SHANGHAI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese women's duo Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli defended their China Open title on Sunday in their first tournament together since being disqualified from the London Olympics for match-throwing.

The former world No. one, who are seeking to put behind them the controversial Olympic performance, took the first set 21-19 and were leading 14-7 when Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna retired from the final due to injury.

"We lack training after the London Olympics, so actually we didn't expect that we could win the tournament. But it's a good restart for us," said Yu, who announced her retirement but resumed playing for the Superseries Premier event in Shanghai.

"We have won many titles before, but we're extremely happy with this one. It is a huge boost to our confidence," she added.

In the women's singles, Li Xuerui of China lived up to her billing as the reigning Olympic champion by beating Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-12, 21-19 in just 31 minutes to win her first tournament since the London Games.

The 17-year-old Thai was obviously not in her top form after she claimed a hard-fought three-set victory over Juliane Schenk of Germany in Saturday's semifinals.

"Maybe Intanon was too tired after yesterday's match, so today I won easily," said Li. "After the Olympics, I've been struggling to find back my form. Fortunately I won a title over the past four months."

Li suffered back-to-back early exits from the China Masters and Denmark Open last month.

In men's singles, top seed Chen Long beat Wang Zhengming 21-19, 21-18 in an all-China clash.

Chen, seen as the successor of reigning Olympic champion Lin Dan, has won two in three tournaments he entered after taking bronze in London.

China's Xu Chen and Ma Jin outclassed Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying 21-15, 21-17 in the mixed doubles final to clinch their third consecutive title after winning the Denmark Open and French Open.

Danish world No.1 duo Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen defeated South Korea's newly-paired Ko Sung Hyun and Lee Yong Dae 21-15, 21-14 in the men's doubles final, denying a clean sweep of titles by the hosts. Enditem

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