Yang/Zhang win women's doubles at champships
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-08-21 15:33

LOS ANGELES, August 20 (Xinhua) --- Chinese badminton players Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen defeated their compatriots to win the women's doubles title at the world badminton championship Saturday.

Olympic gold medalists Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen beat defending world championship gold medalists Gao Ling and Huang Sui 2-0 in 56 minutes at the International Badminton Federation world championship.

Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen met with fierce resistance from Gao Ling and Huang Sui in the first game to finish 17-16 after tying for six times. In the second game, Gao Ling and Huang Sui took an early lead with 7-1, but Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen won 14 straight points to win the game with 15-7.

Zhang Jiewen said she was a little nervous at the beginning the second game and made repeated mistakes. She thanked her partner for persistence that led them to the final victory.

Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen's victory marked the 12th time Chinese players walked away with the gold medal during the last 13 world championship attended by the Chinese team.

When asked why Chinese women bagged both the gold and silver again at the world championship, Yang Wei said that was because China has many top players and they have top level rivals during training.

Gao Ling, with her mixed doubles partner Zhang Jun, suffered a surprising upset on Friday. The two-time Olympic champions were beaten by Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam from Thailand in quarterfinals 15-10, 7-15 and 11-15. The Thai aces advanced to the mixed doubles semi-finals for the first time.