Chinese shuttlers shine in All England

JAKARTA (JP): Pullela Gopichand of India and Gong Zhichao of China grabbed the men's and women's singles titles of the US$150,000 2001 Yonex All England Open in Sunday's finals matches at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Tenth seed Gopichand beat Chinese Chen Hong, seeded twelfth, 15-12, 15-6 in 47 minutes. Gopichand became the second Indian to grab the title, following the victory of Prakash Padukone in 1980.

Earlier in Saturday's semifinals, Chen beat Malaysian sixth seed Muhammad Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 10-15, 17-16, 15-12 in a 115-minute match, the tournament's longest. Meanwhile Gopichand defeated top seed Dane Peter Gade Christensen 17-14, 17-15.

Gopichand defeated Dane Anders Boesen in the quarterfinals, third seed Chinese Ji Xinpeng in the third round, Collins Haughton of England in the second round, and Ronald Susilo in the first round.

In their last meeting, Chen beat Gopichand 5-15, 17-15, 15-11 at the Thailand Open in July, 1999.

Meanwhile, Gong Zhichao beat compatriot Zhou Mi 11-7, 11-3 to grab the women's singles titles in 27 minutes.

The all-Chinese affair started in the semifinals. Gong Zhichao beat Gong Ruina 11-6, 11-2 while Zhou Mi marched through to the final after defeating compatriot Dai Yun 11-1, 11-3.

In the mixed doubles final, Chinese second seed Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China came from behind to grab a 13-15, 15-12, 17-14 victory over number one seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen from Denmark, in 73 minutes.

In the semifinals, Zhang and Ling defeated third seeds Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager of Denmark 15-6, 15-8. Meanwhile, Danish duo Sogaard and Olsen defeated seventh-seeded local heroes Simon Archer and Gail Emms 15-5, 15-12.

Coming from behind, seeded Gao Ling and Huang Sui of China beat compatriot Wei Yili and Zhang Jiewen 10-15, 15-8, 15-9 to grab the women's doubles title.

Gao and Huang beat third-seeded compatriots Chen Lin and Jiang Xuelian 15-3, 15-9 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, another unseeded pair from China, Wei Yili and Zhang Jiewen crushed Japan's Seiko Yamada and Shizuka Yamamoto 15-3 15-1.

Until 00:30 a.m. Jakarta time Indonesian men's doubles pairs were yet to play the last match of an all-Indonesian final securing the title back home.

Unseeded Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto beat top-seeded teammates Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele 15-12, 8-15, 15-8 in the semifinals. Another unseeded Indonesian pair, Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya, defeated third-seeded Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia 10-15, 15-13, 15-8.

Meanwhile, Antara news agency reported from Birmingham that Candra will receive the Eddy Chong Award as the 2000 Player of the Year for his achievements last year.

The award will be presented by president of the International Badminton Federation, Lu Shengrong, after the men's doubles final match. (nvn)