2008 U.S. Open: Lili Zhou shines as Chinese Taipei duo claim gold

(BEIJING, July 16) -- The 2008 Yonex/OCBC U.S. Open Grand Prix saw Lili Zhou of the United States standing on the podium for a long awaited victory in the badminton women's singles competition.

After stunning second-seeded Charmaine Reid of Canada 19-21, 21-15 and 21-15 in the first round, she survived two more heart-pounding three-setters, where she ousted No.8 seed Chang Li-ying from Chinese Taipei and her compatriot No. 4 seed Eva Lee in the quarterfinal and semifinals respectively.

In the showdown against fifth-seeded Irish player Chloe Magee, Zhou remained in good form and took it home in two straight games to claim the coveted victory 23-21, 21-16.

Chinese Taipei duo Chang Li-ying and Hung Shih-chieh seized the win in women's doubles competition after they shook off No. 1 seed USA pair Eva lee and Mesinee Mangkalakiri 22-20, 21-15 in quarterfinals and outplayed compatriots Tsai Pei-ling and Yang Chia-chen 21-19, 21-14 in the decider.

Yet the biggest winner of the tournament was clearly America, as duo Howard Bach and Khan Bob Malaythong and mixed doubles pair Halim Haryanto Ho and Yun Grace Peng both came in at the top of their events.

The winner of the men's singles competition is No. 1 seed Andrew Dabeka from Canada, who outscored Dane Martin Bille Larsen 21-14, 21-9 to seize the day.