Yonex All England 2006 Final Results

YONEX ALL ENGLAND 2006

Five match points and Silver for England

January 23, 2006

Excerpts from Report by: Raphael Sachetat, Badmintonphoto

Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England let five matches points pass in their final of the All England and finally lost their crown to Chinas Zhang Jun and Gao Ling. China is once again the grand winner with four titles as Lin Dan beat Koreas Lee Hyun Il.

What a heart breaker for local heroes… and home fans. Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms were steps away from taking a second title in a row at the All England badminton championships, one year after their success against Denmarks Laybourn and Rytter-Juhl. This time, it would have been even more tasteful as their opponents of the day were no other than Zhang Jun and Gao Ling, the Chinese pair who had deprived them of the Olympic title in 2004 in Athens.

In spite of a fierce battle, the English were on top of their game and led all the way to the win of the first game 15/12. The second game was just as enjoyable for the public, which saw their favourites from Milton Keynes catch up from 10/12 to lead 13/12, only two points away from victory. It took some time for the British to score the fourteenth point but they eventually did, earning a first match point at 14/12. They had a total of four more match points, even if Zhang and Gao closed up the gap to 13/14 in a breathless ending. Photographers were going crazy, going from one side to the other, trying to capture the emotion of who ever would win the game.

After the Chinese caught back to 14/14, they stayed on the side of the double Olympic champions, who were to follow up by winning the three remaining points - 17/14 - to go to a decider. The loss of this game for the English was just too hard to take and the third game, which started after 71 minutes of play, was just a nightmare for Emms and Robertson. The latter even held his finger in the air, when, at 0/14, they finally got to score one point before leaving the title to the Chinese 15/1.

"We played perfectly this week except for these five points. Its going to take some time to forget, but I still believe that we did well and it is encouraging for the future," said Robertson, mentioning that their target was to retain their title in the European championships and win at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships in August. Zhang Jun was quite happy with his win, hinting that the English were amongst the top pairs in the world, but with some ups and downs. "We knew that we could win by remaining patient and concentrating on the serves and returns in key moments, just like the match points, and I felt like Robertson wasnt as powerful through out the match" said Zhang Jun, who vowes to defend his double title in the Olympics in two years time in Beijing.

Denmarks double make history

It was almost a similar match of the final of 2004 All England, between Eriksen and Lundgaard and Lee/Choong of Malaysia, except that it went exactly, point by point, the other way around. Instead of the Malaysians, this time it was the Danes who got to a fiery start and led quickly 13/5 in the second one after winning the first 15/6. However, the Asians started catching up, first to 13/13 and winning the second game 17/14.

Yet the exact scenario from two years ago then took a different path - the Danes were able to get back on track and keep calm, in spite of a rather shaky end of the second game when both Lundgaard and Eriksen made easy mistakes. The third game saw the Malaysians get clumsy, serving in the net on many occasions, for a match which was far less attractive than previous ones in the event. But the pressure was constant on all shoulders, with the experienced Danes being able to cope with it better in the decider, taking it away 15/2.

Golden couple shine in Birmingham

No suspense in the womens single and womens double where it was an all-Chinese affair - even if Xie Xingfang and Zhang Ning fought for three games for the first time ever outside China. The World champion Xie did not let Zhang Ning win her first All England title and went on for a 11/6 - 4/11 - 11/2 victory. "Im pleased to have won here as it is a special tournament, and it is the second time. Yet I still believe Zhang Ning is the best player in the world, as she enters the final of every single tournament she participates in," said the humble Chinese.

Few minutes later, her boyfriend Lin Dan put on his last show on centre court. When he and Lee Hyun Il entered the court, however, the odds could have been in the Koreans favour. Lee had had fairly easy matches until then and a total of three hours and 20 minutes of play while his young opponent Lin had twice as much, with no less than six hours for the five matches he had played previously. Yet Lin Dan had warned the previous evening that he didnt feel tired then, so why should he feel tired for the final? He made sure however that it didnt last too long. He was able to keep the pace up for two games, while his opponent took some time to get going. After a 15/7 - 13/6 lead, however, the majority of the supporters - who were in his favour - held their breath when Lin collapsed on the ground and stayed there, not moving for some long seconds.

Face down, no movement, which got his coach Li Yongbo to jump on court to ask his protégé what was wrong. The Chinese waved at him signifying it wasnt so bad but the numerous replays on the giant screen gave shivers to the public, which could see Lins knee bent in a peculiar way. Few minutes later, once Dr Patel had given him an extra bandage around his knee, Lin Dan was back on court, winning the next point and finishing off. "It was alright to keep playing but I knew I had to win the second game, as in the third game, I dont know what would have happened," said the 22 year old after his 15/7 - 15/7 success, taking back his crown from 2004.

Lastly, in true Chinas womens doubles tradition and another record broken, Gao Ling and Huang Sui, won their 6th title back to back in Birmingham - another historical win after their success 6/15 - 15/11 - 15/2 over compatriots and final partners from the past three years Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen. A hint that they, as well as Zhang Ning, will be back next year to get their first title…

Final Results :

Lin Dan (CHN) beat Lee Hyun Il (KOR) 15-7, 15-7.

Xie Xingfang (CHN) beat Zhang Ning (CHN) 11-6, 4-11, 11-2.

Eriksen/Lundgaard (DEN) beat Lee/Choong (MAS) 15-6, 14-17, 15-2.

Gao/Huang (CHN) beat Yang/Zhang (CHN) 6-15, 15-11, 15-2.

Zhang/Gao (CHN) beat Robertson/Emms (ENG) 12-15, 17-14, 15-1.