Guo and Chen claim maiden All England title with incredible mixed doubles victory
Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui of China claimed a maiden YONEX All England title with an absorbing 21-16 10-21 23-21 victory over compatriots Feng Zan Yhe and Wei Ya Xin in the mixed doubles final.
After a strong start, Guo and Chen were required to refocus as they were taken to a decider and forced to save match points before the seventh seeds’ blistering attacks finally powered them to the title.
With a Chinese pair guaranteed to lift the trophy, Guo and Chen‘s victory extends their country’s hold on the mixed doubles title to a third year as the pair follow Huang Ya Qiong and Zheng Siwei as winners in Birmingham.
The first game was tentative between the two pairs, as both played in their first All England final.
A run of five straight points for Feng and Wei put them into the lead but they could not make it stick.
Guo and Chen repeated the five-point feat and this time marched on to take the game, doing so at the second time of asking.
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Going a game down was the motivation Feng and Wei needed to start playing their game as they flew out of the blocks in the second game.
They opened up a six-point lead early in the second, with Guo at one point hunched over after an intense rally, wondering what more he and Chen could do.
The match continued much the same even as Feng and Wei neared taking the second game.
Both pairs threw everything at their opponents, with the two duos so evenly matched it sometimes felt that the rallies would never end.
Having closed out the second game comfortably, Feng and Wei may have thought they had the momentum.
But the decider was to be an extraordinary battle with no pair more than two points ahead until Guo and Chen reached the interval 11-7 ahead.
The seventh seeds ramped up the intensity just that little bit further and it was taking its toll as Feng needed treatment on his knee.
The ferocious speed did not stop even as the clocked ticked over an hour with Wei and Feng fighting back to level the decider at 18-18.
Wei and Feng brought up the first match points of the game, but could not take them as Guo and Chen triumphed at the first time of asking.
With all the pressure on them, Chen was delighted that she and Guo could hold their nerve and clinch the win.
“At that stage the key is to be consistent, to try to be brave and to go for it,” she said. “The opportunity will be gone in a second if you don’t take it, so I was focussing more on my shot placement and trying to stay confident.”
For Guo, the victory marked proof that their partnership, which is only a year old, was working.
He said: “For both of us this victory is like a confirmation that we can do well and I think we have a lot of joint motivation after this. We have more belief in ourselves.”
Meanwhile, while the defeat was still heavy on the minds of Wei and Feng, the pair were able to be happy for their opponents and compatriots.
Feng said: “On court we are competitors and opponents but off the court we are friends and definitely, to give your full respect to your competitors is to try your best.
“Everyone wants to win so we tried our best but when the game is done we are definitely good friends.”
Photo courtesy of Badmintonphoto
