Chinese Xia Takes All England Men's Title

China's Xia Xuanze scored a surprise win over Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia to take the All England badminton men's singles title at Birmingham, England, on Sunday.

Xia, the 11th seed who entered the tournament little heralded, pulled out the stunning victory over fourth seed Hidayat 15-6 15- 13, who is the runner-up for the second year running. Xia took control from the start, going 11-0 ahead in the first and 10-4 in the second.

The 18-year-old Hidayat rebounded to level the game at 13-13, but the Indonesian fightback turned out to be short-lived as the tall Chinese swiftly slammed the door.

China were assured of a second singles title later in the day with compatriots Dai Yun and Gong Zhichao doing battle in the women's final.

But Chinese were not as lucky in the mixed doubles competition which saw number one seed Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min of South Korea beat second-seed Chinese duet Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China 15-10, 15-2.

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