Sun Jun, Martin new world champions

By Primastuti Handayani

COPENHAGEN (JP): China's Sun Jun and Denmark's Camilla Martin fulfilled their ambitions of winning the World Championships on Sunday afternoon.

Sun defeated Fung Permadi, an Indonesian playing for Chinese Taipei, 15-6, 15-13 in 48 minutes to earn the gold he missed out on two years ago when Dane Peter Rasmussen beat him in the finals.

Martin took the gold after topping Dai Yun of China 11-6, 6- 11, 11-10 in a dramatic match. The match up was a repeat of the Sudirman Cup final when Dai Yun beat Martin.

Peter Gade Christensen and Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, both of Denmark, received bronze medals. Gade Christensen, who burst into tears after losing in the semifinals, also earned the Eddy Choong sportsmanship award.

Dane Mette Sorensen and China's Gong Ruina shared the bronze in the women's draw.

Second-seeded Sun performed at his best in the one-hour match. He controlled the first game, taking a 10-2 lead before beginning to make unforced errors, allowing Fung to climb back to 4-10. Sun smashed back, reaching game point with a 14-4 lead, but Fung refused to surrender and used his drives to climb to 6-14. But Sun's was able to close out the game.

The second game was tighter, with both Sun and Fung trying to steal chances during long rallies. Fung led 13-9 but he dropped his chance to extend the match by allowing Sun to smash his way to a 15-13 victory and the match.

"I played very good today. This is my first victory against Fung in our five meetings and I'm really happy with it. It's the most important thing to win. But I'm most satisfied with my performance in the semifinals against Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen. He was a good player," he said.

Sun said he did not think Fung would beat world number one Peter Gade Christensen in the semifinals.

"It doesn't really matter because we don't know what's going to happen in the finals. I beat Peter in the Sudirman Cup finals but I don't know if I could have won again if we met today," Sun, who will celebrate his 24 birthday on June 16, said.

Sun said he was tired in the second game.

"But I know that he was also tired. I'm younger and stronger than him so I have to be able to beat him."

Fung, a father of one who will celebrate his 32 birthday in December, said he heard a rumor that the Badminton Association of Chinese Taipei would give him a cash bonus of US$40,000 for taking the silver medal.

In the women's draw, Martin, 25, was leading 10-3 in the third game but unforced errors let the 21-year-old Dai fight back to 8- 10 before she equaled things at 10-10.

But Martin steeled her nerves to take the game and the match.

Playing in front of the 5,000-strong home crowd, Martin stood on the court in disbelief after winning before she ran to boyfriend Gade Christensen and coach Kenneth Larsen.

China's women's doubles pairing of Ge Fei and Gu Jun defeated South Koreans Ra Kyung-min and Chung Jae-hee 15-4, 15-5 to take the gold.

South Korea won a gold in the mixed doubles, with Kim Dong- moon and Ra kyung-min upsetting All England champions Simon Archer and Joanne Goode 15-10, 15-13. (yan)

Results

Finals:

Men's singles: 2-Sun Jun (Chn) bt 5-Fung Permadi (Tpe) 15-6, 15-13

Women's singles: 3-Camilla Martin (Den) bt 4-Dai Yun (Chn) 11-6, 6-11, 11-10

Women's doubles: 2-Ge Fei/Gu Jun (Chn) bt 15-Ra Kyung-min/Chung Jae-hee 15-4, 15-5

Mixed doubles: 1-Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (Kor) bt 2-Simon Archer/Joanne Goode (Gbr) 15-10, 15-13

Semifinals:

Men's singles: 5-Fung Permadi (Tpe) bt 1-Peter Gade Christensen (Den) 15-11, 1-15, 15-14

Women's singles: 4-Dai Yun (Chn) bt 8-Mette Sorensen (Den) 11-8, 13-12

Men's doubles: 10-Lee Dong-soo/Yoo Yong-sung (Kor) bt 13-Simon Archer/Nathan Robertson (Gbr) 15-11, 15-8; 12-Kim Dong-moon/Ha Tae-kwon (Kor) bt 11-Zhang Wei/Zhang Jun (Chn)