`Super Dan' defends World Cup title
(Xinhua) Updated: 2006-10-28 16:30
China's world number one Lin Dan won second consecutive title at the IBF
World Cup men's singles on Saturday after triumph in an all-Chinese final at
Yiyang, Hunan province of south China.
Lin, who advanced into the final
by a walkover match when long-time rival Hidayat Taufik of Indonesia quitted
citing an injury, defeated fellow-Chinese Chen Yu 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 21-17).
The world number one did not seem to be firing on all cylinders as he
committed too many errors and allowed 11th-ranked Chen to score three straight
points while leading 19-18 in the second game to concede a 21-19 loss, and the
match was levelled at 1-1.
The tie-breaker was hotly contested at the
opening period as the two traded the lead until the game was levelled at 8-8.
But it was Lin that pulled away first for a 13-10 advantage and never looked
back before sealing it at 21-17.
Lin, the winner here last year, won the
opening game at 21-19.
Earlier, Lin's girlfriend, Xie Xingfang, lost to
compatriot Wang Yihan 2-0 in the women's singles
final.
Women's
doubles
China's World number one Gao Ling/Huang Sui were never
really threatened by fellows Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen before they won the third
title for China on Saturday in the women's doubles final of the US$250,000 IBF
World Cup.
The duo, who won out 21-19, 21-6, shared the first prize of
17,430 US dollars at the same time.
2004 Olympic champions Yang/Zhang
started badly in the first game trailing 11-5 at the technical timeout. Although
they managed to beat off four game points while trailing at 20-15, Gao/Huang
converted the fifth to win at 21-19.
In the second game, Gao/Huang
stormed to 11-3 before the technical timeout while Yang/Zhang, second ranked in
the world, looked sluggish both in offense and defense, losing the game at an
uncharacteristic 21-6.
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