Indonesia, China and Thailand sweep the podium at BWF World Championships.
World number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia was again trying for a first world title as he faced arch rival Lin Dan of China in the BWF World Championship men’s singles final on Sunday in Guangzhou.
After Lee took the first game and Lin levelled by taking the second, the Malaysian was overcome with cramp and was forced to retire, meaning Lin Dan won the title with a 16-21 21-13 20-17 retired win.
In the women’s singles final, Olympic champion and world number one Li Xuerui of China appeared to be cruising to an easy win when she took an 18-12 first game lead against the Thai teenager Ratchanok Intanon.
But Ratchanok fought back from seven points down to win the opening game 22-20, before winning the title in three games, 22-20 18-21 21-14, becoming at eighteen years of age the youngest ever badminton world champion and the first from Thailand.
China’s top-seeded women’s doubles pair of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were defended their world title against South Korea’s Eom Hye-won and Jang Ye-na 21-14, 13-21, 21-8.
In the mixed doubles final, Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir survived two match points before defeating China’s Xu Chen and Ma Jin in three games 21-13, 16-21, 22-20.
Indonesia added a second title in the men’s doubles. Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan swept past Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark 21-13, 23-21
