China makes everyone else fight for crumbs at RP badminton tilt

MANILA, Philippines - China's players won all but one of the five championships in the $120,000 Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships to underscore its dominance in the sport. Chinese campaigners bagged the women's singles, mixed doubles, men’s singles and women’s doubles plums, missing out only the men’s doubles title on Sunday at the PhilSports arena in Pasig City. Wang Xin needed three sets to clinch the women's singles title at the expense of top seed and world No. 1 Zhou Mi of Hong Kong, 21-10, 12-21, 23-21. Wang, who had to qualify to compete in the tournament, pocketed the $9,000 top prize. Her road to the top of the women's draw included a victory over seventh seed Charmaine Reid of Canada in the Last 16 round and a triumph over compatriot Want Shixian in the semis. A member of China's Team B, Wang bagged her first major title since competing in the world circuit this year. China's mixed doubles pair of Zhang Nan and Lu Lu downed compatriots Zhang Jinkang and Chen Zhiben, 22-20, 21-19, to bag the $7,320 top purse. In the women's doubles, three-time Olympic gold medalist Gao Ling and Wei Yili upset the top-ranked tandem of Shendy Irawati and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia, 21-11, 21-11 to win the $7,320 prize. China's No. 7 Chen Long did not give his compatriot No. 8 Hu Yun a chance with a 21-13, 21-16 demolition to win the men’s singles crown and pocket the $9,600 that comes along with the title. Chen's triumph was a testimony that the former world junior champion is on his way to the top of the world standings. He defeated three of the world’s top players in Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, Lin Dan, also of China, and Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat on his way to winning the crown. Badminton powerhouse Indonesia grabbed a sliver of the spotlight by winning the men’s doubles title. The top seeded pair of Mohammad Ahsan-Bona Septano came back from a first set setback to defeat their compatriots Alvent Chandra and Hendra Gunawan, 10-21, 21-14, 21-17, to pocket the men's doubles crown and the $8,640 top prize. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV