Olympic bronze medallist Xia Xuanze took the badminton World Grand Prix Finals title in Brunei on Sunday, beating Marleve Mainaky to become the first Chinese men's player to win a major crown this year.
An inspired Xia put away some blistering smashes, which left Indonesian Mainaky floundering and started a run of three titles for China with Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei taking the women's doubles, and Zhou Mi the women's singles.
The 29-year-old Mainaky, runner-up in the last Grand Prix final here two years ago, said his tactic was to start at a fast pace, but he found Xia's attack too relentless.
After dropping the first two games, Mainaky came back in the third but it was not enough.
Xia found his second wind and stormed to a 6-2 lead in the fourth before hitting a nervous patch, and a series of smashes and drives found the net tape allowing Mainaky to draw level at 6-6.
But the 22-year-old Chinese regained his composure and held on to win 7-4, 7-5, 2-7, 8-6.
"My shots were sharp and I was able to read my opponent's game. It's a great pleasure to win and
great motivation for me," Xia said.
The all-Chinese women's finals saw Zhou Mi take a first world title over Olympic champion Gong Zhichao 7-5, 5-7, 7-1, 7-0.
In the doubles, Olympic silver medallists Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei overcame compatriots Chen Lin and Jiang Xuelian 8-6, 7-3, 3-7, 7-3.
The Denmark pair of Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager, the only European representatives in any of the five finals, had a comfortable win over Trikus Haryanto and Minarti Timur in the mixed doubles.
It was an unexpected loss for the Indonesians, who had looked sharp and focused throughout the week. Yet Eriksen and Schjoldager would not be denied, winning in straight games 8-7, 7-4, 7-4.
"This is the greatest win we've ever had," Schjoldager said. "We've played them twice before and I thought it would be much, much tougher."
The men's doubles final saw reigning champions Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan conquer fellow Indonesians Halim Haryanto and Sigit Budiarto in a fast and furious contest 7-5, 8-6, 7-2.
(Xinhua Agency 08/14/2001)
