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Veteran Wang Delights Home Fans
Hong Kong's Wang Chen became the first local player to win her national open title when she beat China's Olympic silver medallist Xie Xingfang in the final of the Hong Kong Open Super Series women's singles event.
Wang, backed by a vocal full house at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, carved out a 21-16, 10-21, 21-10 victory over the former world number one and girlfriend of men's Olympic champion Lin Dan.
Lin even watched from the sidelines after his loss in the men's singles final but his presence failed to inspire fourth-seeded Xie, who was beaten in the Beijing Olympic final by compatriot Zhang Ning.
The 33-year-old said that her victory in front of home fans would be the ideal send-off when she eventually retires from international badminton, which she feels is just around the corner.
She said that injuries and age are gradually catching up with her.
She was quoted as saying: "I'm definitely not coming back. I feel close to retirement and each match is one step closer to retirement, so I'm enjoying the games more than before because of that."
Wang had an eventful run to the final, starting with a confident victory over eighth-seeded Chinese woman Wang Lin, winning 21-19, 21-18. Then came another easy two-game win over Judith Meulendijks, of the Netherlands.
Wang's quarter-final opponent was feisty Indian teenager Saina Nehwal. But Wang managed to survive a tough battle 27-25, 14-21, 21-15 before advancing to the last four.
There, she met in-form second-seed Zhou Mi, also from Hong Kong. In another tough three-gamer, Wang prevailed 12-21, 21-17, 21-18.
Xie had a tough start to the competition, needing three games to beat compatriot Wang Yihan 18-21, 21-16, 21-14.
Wang won the Japan Open earlier this year but has since had some tough draws that has prevented her from building on that success.
Xie then beat Indonesian qualifier Pia Zebadiah Bernadet in two games before waltzing past Bulgaria's Petya Nedelcheva in the quarter-finals.
Fellow Chinese and fifth seed Zhu Lin stood in her way in the semi-finals but Xie had little trouble moving on with a 21-13, 21-9 victory.
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