Ahmad／Natsir amazingly take their third All England title in a row with the same score against the same opponents
With US$400,000 up for grabs, the finals of the All England Badminton Championships were held on Sunday and produced an amazing result. As if arranged by the gods, Tontowi Ahmad／Liliyana Natsir followed their All-England victory last year against 2012 Olympic gold medalists Zhang Nan／Zhao Yun Lei, by repeating the feat with the same score of 21-13,21-17;not only that the match lasted 42 minutes, just one minute different to last year.
Indonesia’s star XD pair Ahmad／Natsir took their third All England title in succession
Natsir was lively and full of confidence in front of the net, Zhang Nan repeatedly attacked powerfully from the back of the court but Ahmad was able to turn defense into offence. Zhang／Zhao, the world’s top ranked mixed doubles pair were warned by the head umpire halfway through the match for “inappropriate release of emotion.” The match ended with Ahmad／Natsir winning 21-13, 21-17, the same score as last year, after being in control throughout, giving them their third All-England title in a row.
“I am really happy to have won three times in a row but that’s not enough and I want to keep winning, next year, even the year after,” said Natsir; she modestly attributed the ease of their win to Ahmad for his outstanding performance. “I hope we can keep up the momentum to the World Championships and the Asian Games at the end of the year, two competitions that we have our sights on this year.”
In the men’s singles final, Lee Chong Wei performed flawlessly, leaving China’s Chen Long without complaint at ending up the loser. Chen said “Lee Chong Wei played very patiently today whereas I was more and more anxious. He played some amazing shots and I have no complaints about losing.” His trademark leaping smash at the end of the second game helped Lee take the third All-England title of his career, the score 21-13,21-18.
In the women’s doubles Yu Yang／ Wang Xiao Li also retained the title. Facing teammates Ma Jin／Tang Yuan Ting they emerged narrow winners in a tough fight, the score 21-17,18-21, 23-21 .
In the women’s singles, China’s Wang Shi Xian saw off her team mate Li Xue Rui in straight games to take her second All England crown. In the final of the men’s doubles Ahsan／Setiawan, Indonesia’s star pair, won 21-19, 21-19, giving them six wins out of six in their career meetings with Japan’s Endo Hiroyuki／ Hayakawa Kenichi so far
Popular ROK player Ko Sung Hyun came away from the All England happy. Having completed national service only recently, he reached the semifinal stage with his partners Shin Baek Choel and Kim Ha Na respectively, bagging a large number of points that will help the pairs rise up the world rankings and have the advantage of being seeded in future competitions.
Game videos of All England Super Series Premier 2014
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Event
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WINNER
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Score
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RUNNER-UP
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Video
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WD
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Yang (F) Yu
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21-17、18-21、23-21
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Jin Ma Yuanting Tang |
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MD
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Mohammad Ahsan [1]
Hendra Setiawan
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21-19、21-19
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 Hiroyuki Endo [2] Kenichi Hayakawa |
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WS
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Shixian WANG [4]
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21-19、21-18
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Xuerui Li [1] |
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MS
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21-13、21-18
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XD
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Tontowi Ahmad [2]
Liliyana Natsir |
21-13、21-17
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Nan Zhang [1] Yunlei Zhao |
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2014-03-04 |
2014-03-20 |
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