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| May 16, 2005 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 7, 1426 |
China sweep to fifth title
BEIJING, May 15: China tightened their vice-like grip on world badminton on Sunday with a 3-0 thrashing of Indonesia to win the Sudirman Cup mixed team tournament, their third straight international team title.
Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir kindled Indonesian hopes of an upset over the heavily favoured hosts by taking the first game in their key mixed doubles with Gao Ling and Zhang Jun.
But China turned the tide and Gao’s net prowess and Zhang’s baseline firepower enabled them to edge clear for a 12-15 15-5 15-8 victory.
Chinese top singles player Lin Dan faced his stiffest challenge of the tournament against Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and had to come from behind in both games to win their battle 17-15 15-9.
Zhang Ning, an Athens gold medallist and the world’s number two woman, then gave China their fifth Sudirman title by overwhelming Fransisca Hari 11-1 11-7 for a 3-0 victory that sent the crowd in the Capital Stadium into flag-waving delirium.
The next Sudirman Cup will be held in 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Results:
China 3 Indonesia 0
Mixed doubles: Zhang Jung/Gao Ling (CHN) bt Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir (INA) 12-15, 15-5, 15-8
Men’s singles: Lin Dan (CHN) bt Taufik Hidayat (INA) 17-15, 15-9
Women’s singles: Zhang Ning (CHN) bt Fransisca Hari (INA) 11-1, 11-7
Men’s doubles: Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun (CHN) v Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto (INA) - dead rubber
Women’s doubles: Huang Sui/Gao Ling (CHN) v Greysa Polii/Jo Novita (INA) - dead rubber.—Agencies
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