'super dan' defends world cup title
Oct. 28 - 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.