Flandy/Eng Hian win German Open

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian of Indonesia mounted a fightback to win the German Open badminton championship with a 9-15, 15-8, 15- 4 victory over Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun of China in the finals in Duisburg, Germany, on Sunday.

It was Flandy/Eng Hian's third title this year after their victories in Switzerland and Japan, on which occasions the pair played under the English badminton authority.

The scores of the matches could be followed live on www.worldbadminton.net.

In the last tie of Sunday's five finals, the Indonesian pair, who has just returned recently after a two-year stint with England, totally dominated their younger opponents in the third set. They ran eight points clear before the Chinese pair pulled back two points.

Fu/Cai added only another two before the Indonesians cruised to seal the victory, which must be a relief for the Indonesian team after Candra Wijaya and Halim Haryanto crashed in the final hurdles in Denmark last week.

While China controlled the Denmark Open with three all-China finals, South Korea had a victorious run in Germany by taking three titles. China had to be content with one trophy in the singles through Zhang Ning.

Sunday's German finals also witnessed yet another unstoppable march to the top by the mixed pairing of Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min.

In the final match between the world's top pairs, the South Koreans, who are currently the top pair in world, beat number two pairing Zhang Jun/Gao Ling to take their eighth title in a row this year.

The 15-6, 15-17, 15-8 victory also stamped their personal domination over the Chinese pair, extending their wins to nine against three defeats.

German Open finals Men's singles: Lee Hyun-il (Kor) bt Lin Dan (Chn) 15-4, 15-4 Women's singles: Zhang Ning (Chn) bt Camilla Martin (Den) 11-7, 11-3 Men's doubles: Flandy Limpele/Eng Hian (Ina) bt Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun (Chn) 9-15, 15-8, 15-4 Women's doubles: Ra Kyung-min/Lee Kyung-won (Kor) bt Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen (Chn) 15-12, 11-15, 15-8 Mixed doubles: Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (Kor) bt Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (Chn) 15-6, 15-17, 15-8 Women