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Report and pictures by Raphael Sachetat
12/03/2001 : There is one man who is probably very happy on the other
sideof the earth: Prakash Padukone now has found another leader for
the Indian
team.
And he had to wait for 21 years before he saw the green, white and
orange striped flag rise up on the top podium at the All England.
Pullela Gopichand had proven within the last few days that he had the
will, the serenity and the intelligence of the game to become a great
champion, yet he was missing one big win in a grand prix event. It was
all these qualities that brought him the missing title yesterday in
Birmingham. And what a win! The clever Indian was also lucky because
his opponent Chen Hong (pictured) wasn? having a good day. The
Chinese? game is characterised by a highly risky kind of play,
attacking the shuttle very early and aiming at lines.
Chen, perhaps affected by his lengthy semi-final wasn? as efficient as
he usually is, and gave important points away. And Gopichand is no man
to be given easy points as his confidence then provides him with an
even greater game.
The Chinese led 7/3 in the first game after pushing Gopichand to his
back line, but he then started to commit unforced errors and let
Gopichand get even. The Indian cleverly varied the pace of the game,
using his great net play to trouble Chen and draw even 12/12,
eventually winning the first game 15/12.
The second game was played much faster by the Indian, who for once
hurried between points as he understood Chen couldn? get back in the
game. On a last fault by the Chinese when he was behind 6/14, Gopi
(pictured) raised his hands in the air and realised he had achieved
one of his dreams. "I really am thrilled to have won these
Championships, it means a lot to me and I hope that it will have an
impact on India? badminton. Badminton in my country is not a top
sport, and it deserves to be as many young players are in the process
of becoming champions," said Gopichand.
The whole Indian community ·quite in number in Great Britain ·could
celebrate and the 27-year-old new champion had to sign many
autographs. A few minutes after he had stepped down from the podium,
his team mates carried him in triumph. His coaches were bouncing
besides him. "Now it is time to party!" said his coach.
In the all-Chinese final of the women''s singles, Gong Zhichao
(pictured) proved that strength, power and height have nothing to do
with talent. Even if she is much shorter and tinier than her opponent
Zhou Mi, Gong was the boss on court: Fast sliced drop shots, inspired
net play, incredibly well placed back hand shots led the titleholder
to lead 8/1 very quickly in the first game. Zhou then put some speed
in the game and started to come back but Gong raised the level again
to close up the game.
Zhou couldn? cope with Gong? vision, and the fact that the two girls
know each other by heart was to Gong? advantage. She drove her
opponent to each corner of the court before killing the shuttle on one
of her deception smart shots. There is no question - Gong Zhichao
deserved the title she had captured last year.
Rikke Olsen and Mickael Sogaard will probably think they are cursed
when they play Chinese mixed double Gao Ling and Zhang Jun. A few
months ago, it was against them that they had one match point to go to
the Olympic final. And yesterday in Birmingham, the Danes had two
match points to win the event during a very intense final.
"We are very disappointed of course but we did everything we can.
We tried to be aggressive on court, and we played very well. There are
no regrets to have, they just played better than us in key
moments," said Sogaard, who had said previously that he was to
retire after the World Championships in Seville. "That? what he
said but I hope to persuade him to go on for another year," said
Rikke Olsen.
Gao Ling (pictured) will be going back to China as the big winner of
this 103rd edition as she was also crowned in the women? doubles with
partner Huang Sui. The two girls held a good fight against their young
compatriots Wei and Zhang. It took almost one and a half hours to put
experience above youth.
In the men? doubles, 1997 World Champions Halim Heryanto and Tony
Gunawan beat Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya, also from Indonesia, in
a hard three-game match as well. The last time Gunawan and Wijaya were
on a podium was in Sydney, where they had reached the highest level
together as partners. Both teams were unseeded for this event, but the
newly formed pairs should now be appearing in the world? top 15 to
claim a seed in the World Champs in Seville.
Pullela Gopichand (IND) bt Chen Hong (CHN) : 15/12 ·15/6 (47· Gong
Zhichao (CHN) bt Zhou Mi (CHN) : 11/7 ·11/3 (33· Zhang/Gao (CHN) bt
Olsen/Sogaard (DEN) : 12/5 -/12 -7/14 (73· Gao/Huang (CHN) bt Wei/Zhang
(CHN) : 10/15 ·5/8 ·15/9 Gunawan/Heriyanto (INA) bt Budiarto/Wijaya
(INA) : 15-13, 7-15, 15-7 (81·
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