Chinese shuttlers reached their goal of grabbing at least three
gold medals at the Doha Asian Games, but have to be on the alert
for threats from other teams.
The Chinese team took both the men's and women's team titles,
which were considered as the most important by head coach Li
Yongbo.
But just as Li said, the 3-2 narrow win over South Korea in the
men's final showed that China was not far ahead of the rest of
Asia.
Although world champion Lin Dan beat Indonesian Olympic gold
medalist Taufik Hidayat twice in the team event, he was not
unbeatable as the world No. 1 lost to Lee Hyun Il in the team
final.
After the loss to Lee, Lin said that he was so eager to win that
he failed to handle every shot patiently.
Although Lin took a revenge later by finishing off Lee outright
in the men's singles semifinals. The 23-year-old failed to keep a
cool head again in the final where he surrendered to a composed
defending champion Taufik in straight sets.
Since top men's singles players such as Lin, Taufik and Lee are
almost on the same level, the one with stronger mentality usually
has a better chance.
Although China received surprise presents in the mixed doubles
as newly-combined Zheng Bo and Gao Ling notched up the gold by
defeating Indonesian world No. 1 Nova Widianto/Liliyana and their
teammates Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen, the badminton giant suffered a
lot in the men's doubles.
Malaysian pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong ousted world No. 1
Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng in the quarter-finals before they scooped the
gold.
Despite having teamed up for one month, Koo, 21, and Tan, 19,
are as threatful as the bronze medalists Markis Kido/Hendra
Setiawan from Indonesia and Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae from South
Korea.
Chinese head coach Li had once said the he needn't worry about
the Chinese women's team at all. But he turned out to be wrong.
The Chinese women did pull off the team gold without losing a
game. But that was the end of good news.
With world top two Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang in the squad
though, China didn't have a representative in the women's singles
final, where Hong Kong veteran Wang Chen met her teenage teammate
Yip Pui Yin.
Although China made a one-two finish in the women's doubles
through world No. 1 Gao Ling/Huang Sui and No. 2 Yang Wei/Zhang
Jiewen, the two pairs could always feel the threat from their
Japanese, Indonesian and South Korean peers in the competition.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2006)
China Takes Four Golds with Threats Looming?
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Chinese shuttlers reached their goal of grabbing at least three
gold medals at the Doha Asian Games, but have to be on the alert
for threats from other teams.
The Chinese team took both the men's and women's team titles,
which were considered as the most important by head coach Li
Yongbo.
But just as Li said, the 3-2 narrow win over South Korea in the
men's final showed that China was not far ahead of the rest of
Asia.
Although world champion Lin Dan beat Indonesian Olympic gold
medalist Taufik Hidayat twice in the team event, he was not
unbeatable as the world No. 1 lost to Lee Hyun Il in the team
final.
After the loss to Lee, Lin said that he was so eager to win that
he failed to handle every shot patiently.
Although Lin took a revenge later by finishing off Lee outright
in the men's singles semifinals. The 23-year-old failed to keep a
cool head again in the final where he surrendered to a composed
defending champion Taufik in straight sets.
Since top men's singles players such as Lin, Taufik and Lee are
almost on the same level, the one with stronger mentality usually
has a better chance.
Although China received surprise presents in the mixed doubles
as newly-combined Zheng Bo and Gao Ling notched up the gold by
defeating Indonesian world No. 1 Nova Widianto/Liliyana and their
teammates Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen, the badminton giant suffered a
lot in the men's doubles.
Malaysian pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong ousted world No. 1
Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng in the quarter-finals before they scooped the
gold.
Despite having teamed up for one month, Koo, 21, and Tan, 19,
are as threatful as the bronze medalists Markis Kido/Hendra
Setiawan from Indonesia and Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae from South
Korea.
Chinese head coach Li had once said the he needn't worry about
the Chinese women's team at all. But he turned out to be wrong.
The Chinese women did pull off the team gold without losing a
game. But that was the end of good news.
With world top two Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang in the squad
though, China didn't have a representative in the women's singles
final, where Hong Kong veteran Wang Chen met her teenage teammate
Yip Pui Yin.
Although China made a one-two finish in the women's doubles
through world No. 1 Gao Ling/Huang Sui and No. 2 Yang Wei/Zhang
Jiewen, the two pairs could always feel the threat from their
Japanese, Indonesian and South Korean peers in the competition.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2006)