Chinese shuttlers shine in All England<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Pullela Gopichand of India and Gong Zhichao of
\nChina grabbed the men's and women's singles titles of the
\nUS$150,000 2001 Yonex All England Open in Sunday's finals matches
\nat the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.<\/p>\n
Tenth seed Gopichand beat Chinese Chen Hong, seeded twelfth,
\n15-12, 15-6 in 47 minutes. Gopichand became the second Indian to
\ngrab the title, following the victory of Prakash Padukone in
\n1980.<\/p>\n
Earlier in Saturday's semifinals, Chen beat Malaysian sixth
\nseed Muhammad Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 10-15, 17-16, 15-12 in a
\n115-minute match, the tournament's longest. Meanwhile Gopichand
\ndefeated top seed Dane Peter Gade Christensen 17-14, 17-15.<\/p>\n
Gopichand defeated Dane Anders Boesen in the quarterfinals,
\nthird seed Chinese Ji Xinpeng in the third round, Collins
\nHaughton of England in the second round, and Ronald Susilo in the
\nfirst round.<\/p>\n
In their last meeting, Chen beat Gopichand 5-15, 17-15, 15-11
\nat the Thailand Open in July, 1999.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Gong Zhichao beat compatriot Zhou Mi 11-7, 11-3 to
\ngrab the women's singles titles in 27 minutes.<\/p>\n
The all-Chinese affair started in the semifinals. Gong Zhichao
\nbeat Gong Ruina 11-6, 11-2 while Zhou Mi marched through to the
\nfinal after defeating compatriot Dai Yun 11-1, 11-3.<\/p>\n
In the mixed doubles final, Chinese second seed Zhang Jun and
\nGao Ling of China came from behind to grab a 13-15, 15-12, 17-14
\nvictory over number one seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen
\nfrom Denmark, in 73 minutes.<\/p>\n
In the semifinals, Zhang and Ling defeated third seeds Jens
\nEriksen and Mette Schjoldager of Denmark 15-6, 15-8. Meanwhile,
\nDanish duo Sogaard and Olsen defeated seventh-seeded local heroes
\nSimon Archer and Gail Emms 15-5, 15-12.<\/p>\n
Coming from behind, seeded Gao Ling and Huang Sui of China
\nbeat compatriot Wei Yili and Zhang Jiewen 10-15, 15-8, 15-9 to
\ngrab the women's doubles title.<\/p>\n
Gao and Huang beat third-seeded compatriots Chen Lin and Jiang
\nXuelian 15-3, 15-9 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, another unseeded
\npair from China, Wei Yili and Zhang Jiewen crushed Japan's Seiko
\nYamada and Shizuka Yamamoto 15-3 15-1.<\/p>\n
Until 00:30 a.m. Jakarta time Indonesian men's doubles pairs
\nwere yet to play the last match of an all-Indonesian final
\nsecuring the title back home.<\/p>\n
Unseeded Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto beat top-seeded
\nteammates Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele 15-12, 8-15, 15-8 in the
\nsemifinals. Another unseeded Indonesian pair, Sigit Budiarto and
\nCandra Wijaya, defeated third-seeded Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan
\nWah of Malaysia 10-15, 15-13, 15-8.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Antara news agency reported from Birmingham that
\nCandra will receive the Eddy Chong Award as the 2000 Player of
\nthe Year for his achievements last year.<\/p>\n
The award will be presented by president of the International
\nBadminton Federation, Lu Shengrong, after the men's doubles final
\nmatch. (nvn)<\/p>",
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