Gao Ling (R) plays a shot next to her team mate Huang Sui on their way to winning the women's doubles final 23-21, 21-9 against Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili, at the World Championship Badminton tournament in Madrid, Saturday Sept. 23, 2006. Sept. 24 - Gao Ling and Huang Sui beat Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili in an all-Chinese women's doubles final 23-21, 21-9 on Saturday to win their third titles of the World Badminton Championships.
The formidable duo of Gao and Huang, who have reached the final four times in a row, showed stunning prowess in staving off the challenge from their teammates in the nail-biting clash involving 74 rallies.
"Both pairs played very well, especially in the first game which was really close," said Gao.
"I think, as veterans, our experience made the difference in the clutch moments," she added.
Huang paid tribute to Gao praising her unbelievable composure.
"Gao has won two Olympic golds in the mixed doubles, she is a players with great aplomb. When we had problems during the match, I sometimes would get easily worried, but she could always put us through with her composure. I think that is the main reason for our invincibility," she said.
"Our next aim is to win in the 2008 Olympic Games, I hope I can help Gao win her straight third Olympic gold, so that she can emulate Fu Mingxia, our sensational Chinese diver who has retired after the Sydney Olympics," she added.
This is the third time for Wei to reach the final with different partners in the World Championships.
"I have been to the finals for three times, but all lost to Gao and Huang. They are a better pair, I think Zhang and I should do more to work to catch up with them," she said.
"We tried our best in the first game and I thought we pushed them to the limit. But after losing the game, our confidence shook and lost the second one very fast," she added.