Lin Dan Wins Third World Championship Title

HYDERABAD, Aug 16 Two-time world champion Lin Dan pocketed his third title after trouncing compatriot Chen Jin in the men's singles final at the Gawchibowli Indoor Stadium here Sunday.

The thrill of a true final was certainly missing today, disappointing many badminton fans, but Lin Dan in his impeccable form still displayed some fine world-class skills to entertain the crowd at the Yonex-Sunrise World Badminton Championship.

Exploiting his error-prone opponent, Lin Dan was in complete command and piled up his points to easily secure the first set 21-18.

But Chen, the 2007 world championship bronze winner, rallied to level the game in the second match -- levelling at every point but some unforced errors allowed Lin Dan to increase his tally.

Despite some beautiful stroke play by Chen, he failed to stop Lin Dan who advanced to clinch the crowning match 21-16, when Chen's last serve fell short, confusing the empires before Lin Dan was announced the winner.

"I am very happy to win the title for the third time. China's training has been very effective. I am not considering myself a genius, I will try to perform well in the future," Lin Dan told the media after the final.

Lin Dan took the gold, becoming the first player to win the title thrice (won in 2006/2007), while Chen settled for silver and Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat and Sony Dwi Kuncoro shared the bronze.

Badminton powerhouse China continued to display their supremacy in the game, dominating most of the finals in Hyderabad, while Indonesia and Malaysia failed to shine in the tournament.

In the all-Chinese women's singles final, seventh-seeded Lu Lan outplayed Xie Xingfang 23-21, 21-12 to become the new world champion.

In the exciting men's doubles, the Chinese pair Yun Chai-Haifeng Fu worked hard to clinch the gold, defeating South Korea's Jae Sung Jung and Yong Dae Lee 21-18, 16-21, 28-26.

In the women's doubles' final China's Yawen Zhang-Tingting Zhao beat Shu Cheng-Yunlei Zhao 17-21, 21-17, 21-16.

In the mixed doubles, the energetic Danish pair Thomas Laybourn-Kamilla Rytter Juhl defeated Indonesia's Nova Widianto-Liliyana Natsir 21-13, 21-17.