体坛英语新闻：Gold and injury: mixed feelings for Chinese women shuttlers

LONDON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Both Chinese women shuttlers and the audiences in the Wembley Arena might have mixed feelings Saturday afternoon, when the badminton powerhouse raked in two more gold medals and one silver, but one player was seriously injured and withdrew from the match.

The Olymic newcomer Li Xuerui beat more heralded teammate Wang Yihan in three games to nip women's singles gold medal. The scores were 21-15, 21-23, 21-17 in Li's favor.

The fledgling shuttler was in very good form in the first game, dominating the court since the beginning. Her world top-ranked rival, on the other hand, made several mistakes by hitting back the shuttlecock to the net.

But Wang appeared more aggressive in the second game, lashing out diagonal smashes frequently, whereas Li, 21, tried to finish the competition quickly. They were locked in a seesaw battle with the scores tied for eight times, from 6-6 to 21-21, with the tenacious Wang saving two match points to surge ahead.

The deciding game started with Wang taking the lead, before Li collected seven straight points en route to victory.

The overjoyed Li threw away her racket to celebrate the hard-earned gold.

Peviously from the Chinese military badminton team, she gave a military salute on the podium, while the runner-up Wang couldn't help shedding tears.

"Together with my teammate we played brilliantly, and presented an exciting match to the audience," said the champion. "Winning gold is a happy, exciting moment but the glory shouldn't be for me alone. It should be for the whole Chinese team."

"We both played well in terms of technique. In competition, there is the winner as well as the loser."

Li made her name known after beating Wang Yihan in the prestigious All England Open this March, and had been on a four-tournament winning streak before coming to London.

During the seven encounters between the pair, Wang had four wins against three losses. Li seemed on a winning track, edging out Asian Games champion Wang Shixian for an Olympic berth.

Earlier, second-seeded Chinese Wang Xin withdrew from the women's singles bronze medal match against Indian Saina Nehwal after clinching the first game 20-18.

"I slipped and hurt my left leg," said Wang Xin.

China's team doctor Li Quanyi said Xin was in a lot of pain with suspected ligament damage. "It is a new injury and has something to do with the sweat on the court."

Xin had asked Danish referee Torsten Berg several times to have the sweat wiped, but the latter refused.

"It was really sad that she got an injury," said Nehwal, who won India's first ever Olympic badminton medal.

In women's doubles event, Chinese badminton players Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei outplayed Japanese pair Fujii Mizuki/Kakiiwa Reika 2-0 to mount the top of the podium.

The world No. 2 seed duo breezed past the Japanese in the first game 21-10, before winning a hard battle in the second 25-23.

The bronze fell into pockets of Valeri Sorokina and Nina Vislova from Russia.

Tian and Zhao built up their advantage quickly and overwhelmingly in the match, ending the first set by gaining six points continuously.

Facing the onslaught of attacks from the Chinese, the Japanese pair tried their best to prolong each exchange and take advantage of loopholes. They gained points alternatively, with the scores tied at 19-19.

The Chinese broke the ice first, but soon a smash from their rivals levelled their scores. Then Fujii get another point at the mistake of the Chinese. Tian and Zhao clapped hands to encourage. Chinese spectators shouted "kill" at the rhythm of their shots.

After saving the third match point, the Japanese sped up the exchanges. The shuttlecock blazed back and forth, with audiences holding their breath. With a quick block, the mixed double champion Zhao concluded the competition with one more gold for the powerhouse China.

"This is a good start," said 26-year-old Tian, whose birthday is tomorrow.

The pair were crowned at the All-England Badminton Open Championships. Zhao also clinched gold Friday with Zhang Nan in the mixed doubles.

"Each gold medal is precious and I have longed to get both," Zhao said. "I didn't have much pressure, but only concentrated in the competition."

China have two women's double pairs, one of them were disqualified for match-throwing.

"Our victory is an encouragement to many people," she said. "We are in a great team and we will be supporting each other against all odds. These medals belong to everyone."

The pair has been playing together since more than two years ago. "Hopefully we can always compete as a pair," Tian said.

Saturday morning saw China's pin-up pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng defeat Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong from Malaysia. They will be playing against Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen from Denmark Sunday afternoon for the gold medal. In another match, China's badminton star Lin Dan will be meeting his arch-rival Lee Chong Wei for what might be their last Olympic match.