Olympic Champion Gong Zhichao Reaches 2nd Round in Badminton WorldsWorld number five Gong Zhichao of China advanced to the second round at the world badminton championships Tuesday in Seville.Gong, a backbone in China's winning fourth successive Sudirman Cup last Saturday, cruised past Thailand's Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn 11-3, 11-1 in 26 minutes. The 24-year-old, also two-time All England champion, is desperate to add the world women's singles title to her Olympic gold won in Sydney. Gong has won all the major international competitions but the world championships, but after her former teammate and two-time Ye Zhaoying retired after the Olympics, she is the hottest of the hot favorites of winning the women's title. She crushed defending champion and world number one Camilla Martin of Denmark 11-1, 11-0 when China beat Denmark in the Sudirman Cup semifinal. Gong's fellow Chinese Dai Yun, seeded 14th, humiliated Maja Pohar of Slovenia 11-0, 11-0 in another match. |
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