Chinese shuttlers shine in All England

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)