Chinese mixed doubles tandem Zheng Bo and Gao Ling conquered
local pair Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir in the Indonesia Open
Super Series finals Sunday in addition to the women's doubles and
men's doubles titles grabbed earlier by their compatriots.
The games were never close and Zheng-Gao quickly ended the final
with 21-16, 21-11 to add the fourth Super Series title to their CV
in this amazing year for them.
They previously have won in Super Series opening in Malaysia,
South Korea and All England, not to mention the German Open.
Credit is given to Gao Ling who also won women's doubles titles
in Malaysia and South Korea Super Series partnering with Huang
Sui.
Their triumph in Indonesia sends a major blow to the host team
as Nova/Lilyana were their only hope in the finals. Never before
have Indonesian shuttlers failed to win a title in the home
tournament that began in 1982.
The tie was full of pressures because it was the last match of
the day, and the last hope for Indonesia, Nova said in a press
conference.
But he acknowledged that his side, the top seed in the home
event, was underperformed and certainly not in their best play
against Zheng-Gao.
In earlier matches at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium here,
women's doubles pair Du Jing and Yu Yang beat compatriots Zhao
Tingting and Yang Wei 21-8, 16-21, 22-20 to win the first title for
China, which filled all five final spots in the tournament.
Bao Chunlai lost to Malaysian Lee Chong Wei 21-15, 21-16 in the
men's singles but Fu Haifeng and Chai Yun won in another battle
against Malaysians in the men's doubles.
They ended the fine run of unseeded pair Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif
and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari 21-17, 22-20.
World's muber 3 Zhu Lin, the reigning champion in Indonesia,
failed to overcome more experienced player Wang Chen of Hong Kong
SAR and lost in two straight games 21-14, 21-13.
Wang also has beaten world's second best Zhang Ning of China in
the semifinals.
It was a disappointing run for China in the women's singles with
another early exit of top female shuttler Xie Xingfang in the
second round.
(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)