Chien and Cheng fall at final hurdle

Winners of the women`s doubles Zhang Jiewen, left, and Yang Wei, second left, of China pose with runners-up Cheng Wen-hsin, second right, and Chien Yu-chin of Taiwan at the Asian Badminton Championships in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Taiwan’s women’s doubles pairing lost their bid for the title as China, the prime power in world badminton, won the women’s singles and doubles at the Asian Badminton Championships yesterday.

The world No. 1 women’s doubles pair of Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen continued their supremacy, beating Taiwan’s Cheng Wen-hsin and Chien Yu-chin 22-20, 21-16.

South Korea made a clean sweep in the men’s events, defeating China in the singles and Indonesia in the doubles.

Seventh seed Park Sung-hwan, who was not even expected to make the final, beat fourth seed Chen Jin 21-18, 21-18 to win the men’s singles trophy.

“I am so happy because this is the first big title for me ever since I made my international debut six years ago,” Park said.

Park beat Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the quarter-finals and Sony Dwi Cuncoro of Indonesia in the semis.

In the second game, Chen trailed 10-17 before drawing level at 18-18. But Park steadied himself, forcing Chen on the defensive as a series of wide shots gave Park the game and the match.

The South Korean combination of Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung overwhelmed the Indonesian challenge of Chandra Wijaya and Nova Widianto 21-16, 21-18 to capture their third men’s doubles title of the year after the All-England and the Swiss Open.

Their latest victory confirmed their status as the hottest pair on the international circuit, with their sights now set on an Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games in August.

“We are still learning and we still have many weaknesses to iron out. There is still a lot of hard work for us as we head toward the Olympics,” Lee said.

Jung said the strategy was to attack Widianto, believing him to be “the weak link.”

In the women’s singles, defending champion Jiang Yanjiao captured her second Asian crown, defeating compatriot Wang Lin 18-21, 21-18, 21-13.