Spain’s Carolina Marin pulled off a monumental upset as she beat Chinese World No 1 Li Xuerui to win the women's singles title at the Badminton World Championships here on Sunday."
The 21-year-old ninth seed recovered from dropping the opening game to the top seed and Olympic champion to complete an incredible 17-21, 21-17, 21-18 victory and earn her country its first ever major title in the sport.
Li had rarely looked in trouble during her run to the final and she again looked at ease with her terrific stroke play proving too much for the tenacious Marin in the opening game. However, the Spaniard was undeterred and came out positively at the start of the second set as she established an early lead before Li reeled her back in. This time though Marin responded by taking the attack to her opponent for whom the nerves perhaps began to take hold as Li began to misfire more regularly with Marin levelling the contest on the first of three game points.
The Chinese regrouped in the third game and inched 14-11 ahead but once more Marin came roaring back and moved to within a point of an improbable victory as Li fired long.Marin then fell to the court in delight on the subsequent point as Li planted her shot into the net.
China, however, extended their dominance in women's doubles as Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei claimed gold at the while South Korea struck gold in the men's doubles.
Fifth seeds Tian and Zhao added a world title to their Olympic crown by defeating compatriots Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli in the final to hand China a 12th straight gold medal in the event.
Tian and Qing, who won Olympic gold at London 2012, secured the first gold medal of these championships with a 21-19, 21-15 victory over their fourth seeded opponents to claim their maiden world title.
Meanwhile Ko Sung-hyun and Shin Baek-choel, the 12th seeds in Denmark, beat fellow South Koreans Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong 22-20, 21-23, 21-18 in a pulsating 79-minute encounter to record their first major title together.
Results (prefix denotes seeding): Men's doubles: 12-Ko Sung-hyun/ Shin Baek-choel (Kor) bt 2-Lee Yong-dae/ Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) 22-20, 21-23, 21-18.
Women’s singles: 9-Carolina Marin (Esp) bt 1-Li Xuerui (Chn) 12-21, 21-17, 21-18.Women's doubles: 5-Tian Qing/ Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt 4-Wang Xiaoli/ Yu Yang (Chn) 21-19, 21-15.
