Olympic Champion Zhang/Gao Steal Show at Badminton WorldsOlympic champion Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China stole the show at the world badminton championships as they edged out title holder Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min in a three-game thriller in the mixed doubles final in Seville on Saturday.The third seeded pair, who prevailed only once in their previous four encounters, defeated the South Korean 15-10, 12-15, 17-16 to win the first title at the world championships. But Gong Zhichao, Olympic gold winner in the women's singles, suffered a defeat to fellow Chinese Gong Ruina 13-10, 11-4 in the semifinal. Ruina, a semifinal loser to Zhichao in this year's All England championships, will vie for the title with second seed Zhou Mi, who beat Zhang Ning 11-5, 11-9 in the other all-Chinese semifinal. China also secured first two places in the women's doubles when Zhang Jiewen/Wei Yili eliminated South Korea's Ra Kyung Min/Lee Kyung Won 15-11, 15-3 to set up a final showdown with compatriots Huang Sui/Gao Ling, who was given a walkover after their semifinal rivals Jiang Xuelian/Chen Lin had to withdraw due to an ankle injury suffered by Jiang in Friday's match. In the men's singles semifinals, world number two Peter Gade overpowered Chen Hong of China 17-14, 15-2 in an one-side match, which had been expected to produce some drama and thrill. "It is a big goal to be in the final," the Dane said. "I am very, very happy." "I have never played so fast around the net," said the former world number one. "In the second game, Chen was tired, but I was calm and confident." Chen's coach Tang Xianhu said that Gade's performance was his best in the past few years. "Chen's defeat is not a surprise," he said. "The surprise is that Gade played too well. It's unbelievable." Gade will fight for his first world champion with Olympic silver medalist Hendrawan, who advanced to the final after his fellow Indonesian and world number three Taufik Hidayat was forced to retire with a leg injury midway through the third game when leading 7-1. Taufik won the first game 15-11 and Hendrawan pulled it even by winning the second 15-7. In the men's doubles semifinals, Tony Gunawan/Halim Haryanto of Indonesia defeated Chew Choon Eng/Chan Chong Ming of Malaysia 12- 15, 15-5, 15-13; South Korea's Kim Dong Moon/Ha Tae Kwon upset another Malaysian pair Lee Wan Wah/Choong Tan Fook 15-7, 9-15, 15- 10. In the mixed doubles final, a late surge from the South Koreans in the third game almost spoiled Zhang/Gao's winning chance. After Kim and Ra levelled the overall score at 1-1, Zhang/Gao controlled the third game and built a 14-9 lead. But Kim/Ra, twice All England champions in 1998 and 2000, staged a brave comeback and pulled it even at 14-14 and then led the Chinese 16-14. When one point can decide all, Zhang/Gao, this year's All England winner, scored three points in a row to win the title they really deserve. "I am very happy to win the world title," a beaming Gao said. " This is my first world title. It's different from the Olympic gold medal." Zhang added: "We played very well in the beginning, but when we led 14-9 in the third game, I lost concentration because I was overexcited. I made several unforced errors and let the rivals pull back. "When trailing 14-16, I told Gao Ling that we had nothing to lose. Just do it! Fortunately, we did not let the chance slip." The Olympic champion said that their next goal is to win more titles. "As many as possible," Gao said. "Nobody will complain they have won too many titles." her partner added. |
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