China won the first of today’s finals at the Yonex World Badminton Championships as Ma Jin/Zheng Bo defeated their counterparts He Hanbin/Yu Yang in straight sets at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium in Paris.
And Chen Jin made it two out of two for China as he defeated Indonesian Taufik Hidayat 21-13,21-15 to lift the men’s singles title.
Chen Jin’s aggression proved too much for Indonesian super star as the Chinese, who was seeded fourth went one better than the last edition in 2009 when he had lost the final to Chinese teammate Lin Dan in Hyderabad.
For Taufik, the former Olympic and World Champion, it was the end of a brilliant run here at Paris.
In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the Indonesian 2004 Olympic champion had showed his old class and brilliant skills to have his supporter’s dream of a repeat of 2005 when Taufik had won the World Championships.
But here at the Stade Coubertin on Sunday, in front of tennis superstar Martina Hingis, Chen Jin was the better and stronger player as he controlled the match right from the start.
Right from the beginning, Chen Jin kept a healthy lead and Taufik had to play catch-up for most of the match. What tilted the balance in favour of the Chinese were the seven consecutive points won in the first game and the five consecutive points won in the second game.
Taufik’s normally reliable net play was error-ridden and his wrong judgments at the baseline didn’t help his cause at crucial stages in both the games.
After his semi-final win on Saturday, Taufik had admitted that Chen Jin was a stronger player and it wouldn’t be an easy game. It wouldn’t be too off the mark to say that Chen Jin wasn’t really extended in the final.
After the final Chen Jin, said, “It’s good to win a title. Lin Dan and lee Chong Wei having been winning all the while and to win the world Championships is always good.”
Chen also said that he had analysed Taufik’s play in the last two good games and was able to predict most of the Indonesian’s moves in the final. “I think everyone had an equal chance to win in this world championship and I am happy that I have finally won the world title.”
“I committed too many mistakes,” said Taufik. “He was the better player and it was Chen Jin’s day.”
It was a memorable return for Ma Jin/Zheng Bo as they won 21-14,21-10 and cemented their reputation as a pair to be feared going into the Asian Games this November.
“It is always good to win and we are happy to have landed the world title,” said Zheng Bo.
“We peaked at the right time and that helped us. After this it is back to the grind as we want the Asian Games title.”
With two titles already in the bag, the mixed doubles and the men’s singles, China are set to win all five finals, a feat they last achieved in 1987 at the Beijing World Championships.
The only hurdle in their path would be the number one seeds, the Malaysian men’s doubles team of Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan pitted against China’s Yun Cai and Haifeng Fu.
