China's hope in mixed doubles

(BEIJING, June 24) -- In last week's badminton Indonesia Super Series, Chinese duo Zheng Bo and Gao Ling beat Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark to grasp the much coveted crown, 21-14, 21-8.

This was their second title this year, having won the All England competition in March. Currently ranked second in the world, Zheng and Gao are highly fancied to win a gold medal in the upcoming Olympic Games. The other top Chinese mixed pair is the young duo, He Hanbin and Yuyang.

In the Indonesia Open, the clash between the top two mixed pairs in the world was eagerly anticipated. However, world No. 1's Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir were surprisingly ousted by Danish duo, Laybourn and Rytter Juhl, 20-22, 20-22 in the semifinals.

Despite being freshly crowned, Zheng and Gao have had injury problems, which forced them to miss the Malaysia Open and Korea Super Series earlier this year. Also they have only been recently paired. In comparison to Gao's former partner, Zheng Bo has less experience.

Zheng and Gao will compete for China in the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games and much is expected from them.