World champion Lin Dan of China holds up the champions plate. Lin defeated topsy-turvy Olympic gold-medallist Taufik Hidayat 16-21, 21-16, 21-3 to retain his Japan Open title. (Photo: AFP) Oct. 15 - World champion Lin Dan defeated topsy-turvy Olympic gold-medallist Taufik Hidayat 16-21, 21-16, 21-3 to retain his Japan Open title.
The Chinese star said he could not keep up with Taufik in the first game but soon found himself coasting to victory as the temperamental Indonesian threw away the decider.
"Taufik was so speedy in the first game and I couldn't cope with his speed. In the second game, I tried not to play at the net by sending long shots and tried to keep the lead. The first two games were very close," said Lin.
But the match changed after Lin won 10 points in a row to go 10-1 up in the final game, when the unseeded Taufik, who has missed much of the season through injury, appeared to lose hope.
"He seemed to have given up when I took the lead in the final game," said Lin.
The win completed a Chinese double in the singles after Zhang Ning downed team-mate Xie Xingfang in the women's competition.
It was Lin's six title of the season, adding to his victories at the All England, Taipei Open, Macau Open, Hong Kong Open and the world championships last month in Madrid.
Earlier, world number one Zhang defended her title from arch-rival Xie in a thrilling women's final.
Zhang staved off four match points and squandered five of her own before prevailing 21-11, 16-21, 30-29 after a marathon final game which went to sudden death.
"At 16-19 down in the final game, I tried to keep myself calm and concentrated on each shot. That was the key to the victory. I was able to finish off by playing aggressively at the end," said a jubilant Zhang.
Zhang had a chance to win at 22-21 in the last, but Xie scraped through after a long rally.
Neither could build a two-point lead and the match was abruptly settled by a Zhang smash at 29-all, when under new scoring rules the next point wins.
"Whenever I rushed, I made too many mistakes and both were very tired at the end of the match. But in the final game, I was able to hit the shuttle calmly. It decided the winner," Zhang said.
The 75-minute win was revenge for Zhang, who lost to Xie in the world final and at the last two All England finals. She now edges her in the head-to-heads at 10-9.
It was Zhang's fourth title of the season, following her triumphs at the German Open, Malaysia Open and the Taipei Open, and earned her the 12,420-dollar winner's check.
In the all-Indonesian mixed doubles final, the 2004 champion Vita Marissa teamed up with new partner Flandy Limpele to beat her former partner Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsier 11-21, 21-18, 21-17.
"It's great revenge after he (Widianto) abandoned me," said Marissa. "No, it's a joke. We both found a great partner and I'm happy about it. This is our first tournament. I'm very happy that we probed we can cope with a top team."
The women's doubles title went to the world number one pair of Gao Ling and Huang Sui, who defeated fellow Chinese Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen 21-15, 21-17.
