BIRMINGHAM (England), Aug 3: Fifth seed Xia Xuanze of China, a bronze medallist at the Sydney Olympics, won the world badminton title on Sunday, battling past Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia 15-6 13-15 15-6.

In a thrilling 80-minute final, Xia seemed to be in charge when leading 12-9 in the second set, but Wong fought back bravely to level at 13-13 and then tie the match at 1-1.

It was nip and tuck in the decider until 6-6, but Xia slowly gained control to clinch the title on his second match point.

The two men have met eight times in their careers, with the Chinese player having won all eight.

Earlier, women’s singles titleholder Gong Ruina was deposed 11-6 11-3 in the final by Chinese compatriot Zhang Ning.

Gong led 4-0 in the first game but once Zhang found her stride she was generally in control, rounding off a fine week in which her other scalps have included the 1999 world champion Camilla Martin of Denmark.

Seeded second ahead of Gong at four, Zhang, a comparative veteran at 28, was competing in her sixth world championships.

“This was my first time in the final and I had done a lot of preparation that helped me feel very confident before the match,” said Zhang.

“I have had to work very hard. As you get older, it’s more difficult to play all of the time because of injuries.”

Results:

Women’s doubles 3-Gao Ling/Huang Sui (China) beat 1-Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting (China) 15-8 15-11

Men’s singles 5-Xia Xuanze (China) beat 9-Wong Choong Hann (Malaysia) 15-6 13-15 15-6

Women’s singles 2-Zhang Ning (China) beat 4-Gong Ruina (China) 11-6 11-3

Mixed doubles 9-Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (South Korea) beat 1-Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (China) 15-7 15-8

Playing later:

Men’s doubles 4-Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen (Denmark) v 11-Sigit Budiarto/Candra Wijaya (Indonesia)—Reuters