Chinese shuttlers dominate China Open

JAKARTA (JP): Chinese shuttlers dominated the US$150,000 China Open before a home crowd to claim four titles in the finals on Saturday.

The 1996 Olympic Games runner-up, Dong Jiong, took the coveted men's singles title by defeating Chinese Taipei rival Fung Permadi.

Dong, 26, looking to have the situation in hand, easily powered past world championship silver medalist Fung in two sets 15-2, 15-7.

Xinhua reported Zhou Mi won the host its second title by wrapping up the victory in the women's singles.

The 20-year-old Zhou, runner-up in the Sweden Open last month, attacked with powerful smashes to take the trophy, beating teammate Gong Ruina, world number two, 11-6, 11-5.

Chinese world and Olympic champions duo Gei Fei and Gu Jun claimed the women's double victory to present the third title for China after defeating Chinese second best Qin Yiyuan and Gao Ling in two straight sets 15-5, 15-6.

South Korea won its first title in the championships when Ha Taek-won and Kim Dong-moon beat their compatriots in the men's doubles final.

Ha and Kim held off a tough challenge from Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung in the first set, winning the title with a 17-16, 15-8 victory.

The all-Korean final was a repeat of the World Championships final in Copenhagen in May.

After the China Open, the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) is sending 15 shuttlers to compete in the Hong Kong Open which starts on Wednesday.

The 15 shuttlers are Jeffer Rosobin, Irwansyah, Sigit Budiarto, Halim Heryanto, Endra Mulyajaya, Hadi Saputra and Nova Widyanto on the men's side and Yuli Marfuah, Dwi Retno, Ninik Masrikah, Mona Santoso, Vita Marissa, Rossy Riany, Diah Novita and Upi Krisnawati on the women's side.

The PBSI official in charge of athletic development, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, said the championships would also serve as the final evaluation for men's singles seniors Jeffer and Irwansyah, who have shown no major improvement during their careers in badminton. (yan)