LONDON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Both Chinese women shuttlers and the audiences in the Wembley Arena might have mixed feelings Saturday afternoon, when the badminton powerhouse raked in two more gold medals and one silver, but one player was seriously injured and withdrew from the match.
The Olymic newcomer Li Xuerui beat more heralded teammate Wang Yihan in three games to nip women's singles gold medal. The scores were 21-15, 21-23, 21-17 in Li's favor.
The fledgling shuttler was in very good form in the first game, dominating the court since the beginning. Her world top-ranked rival, on the other hand, made several mistakes by hitting back the shuttlecock to the net.
But Wang appeared more aggressive in the second game, lashing out diagonal smashes frequently, whereas Li, 21, tried to finish the competition quickly. They were locked in a seesaw battle with the scores tied for eight times, from 6-6 to 21-21, with the tenacious Wang saving two match points to surge ahead.
The deciding game started with Wang taking the lead, before Li collected seven straight points en route to victory.
The overjoyed Li threw away her racket to celebrate the hard-earned gold.
Peviously from the Chinese military badminton team, she gave a military salute on the podium, while the runner-up Wang couldn't help shedding tears.
"Together with my teammate we played brilliantly, and presented an exciting match to the audience," said the champion. "Winning gold is a happy, exciting moment but the glory shouldn't be for me alone. It should be for the whole Chinese team."
"We both played well in terms of technique. In competition, there is the winner as well as the loser."
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