While England’s players were left wondering what might have been, they could only look on in envy at the way China’s players swept the board at the ninety-ninth Yonex All England Championships in Birmingham.
China became the first nation for more than sixty years to win all five titles – Denmark did it in 1948 – and they did so without one of their players or pairs being top seeds. In fact, it was the first time since 2001 that China did not figure as top seed in any of the five events.
Of course, for England things might have been different but for Nathan Robertson being struck down by a virus on the eve of the Championships.
That denied British fans the chance to see a mouth-watering clash between Robertson and Jenny Wallwork and fourth seeds and team-mates Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg in the first round.
It also stopped Robertson and Clark showing the fans that they are still a force in Men’s Doubles after reuniting following the Beijing Olympics and climbing high enough up the world rankings to be seeded eighth at the National Indoor Arena.
Recently appointed England and GB Performance Director Ian Moss, who takes up his role in mid-April, was there to watch the players just as he was at the European Team Championships in Liverpool.
But home-grown success stories were at a premium. In the Men’s Singles Andrew Smith continued to give a good account of himself and presented former World and Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia with a stern test in their second-round clash before losing to the seventh seed 15-21 21-15 21-16.
In the Mixed Doubles, Clark and Kellogg built on their walkover against Robertson and Wallwork to beat teenage prospects Chris Adcock and Gabby White 21-14 21-16 to reach the quarter-finals. However, hopes of them improving on their 2007 runners-up spot evaporated on the Friday night when they lost a three-game battle with Korean pair and eventual runners-up Ko Sung Hyun and Ha Jung Eun 21-16 15-21 21-11.
By then the Anglo-Scottish pairing of Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier had also fallen, the seventh seeds going out in the second round 26-24 21-19 in a contest as tight as the scoreline suggests against Indonesian Flandy Limpele and Russia’s Anastasia Russkikh.
Clark and Kellogg’s quarter-final effort was matched by Women’s Doubles pair White and Jenny Wallwork.
They may not yet have the experience to get past Olympic champions and 2008 All England runners-up Du Jing and Yu Yang – they lost 21-6 21-8 – but they had the satisfaction of beating Denmark’s European Champions and sixth seeds Kamilla Juhl and Lena Frier Kristiansen in impressive fashion 21-12 21-8 in the second round in the pick of the home performances.
But all in all, the championships belonged to China, a new more approachable China under the guidance of former champions Xia Xuanze and Zhang Ning and, of course, the overall leadership of the redoubtable Li Yongbo.
Wang Yihan won the Women’s Singles in her second All England and Lin Dan won his fourth Men’s Singles in six successive final appearances when he repeated his Olympic win over Malaysian world No 1 Lee Chong Wei.
China also captured the three doubles titles through He Hanbin and Yu Yang in the Mixed, Zhang Yawen and Zhao Tingting in an all-Chinese Women’s Doubles final, and former World Champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng recaptured the Men’s Doubles trophy they won in 2005.
Golden boy Lin Dan let slip 10-6 and 16-12 lead in the first game as Lee Chong Wei edged 19-17 ahead. But he then lost focus and Lin Dan took the opening game before running away with the second to secure a 21-19 21-12 victory. Lin Dan, who was eager to celebrate by going shopping, said: “I felt I played quite well but we both did and the real winners had to be the fans that saw the match.
“There were a couple of times in the first set when I let him get an advantage but I recovered and I thought I played well.”
Lee said: “It was a better match than our Olympic meeting but he has improved! He has got a psychological advantage now after beating me three times in a row recently. Next time I need to break up his rhythm. He is a good attacker and plays very fast.”
By the time Lin Dan had lifted his title, China had already won the Mixed Doubles when Olympic Bronze Medallists He Hanbin and Yu Yang defeated Ko Sung Hyun and Han Jung Eun of Korea 13-21 21-15 21-9.
Then Zhang Yawen, the 2007 Women’s Doubles winner with Wei Yili, took the title with new partner Zhao Tingting when the seventh seeds overcame team-mates Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei 21-13 21-15.
Next 21-year-old Wang Yihan added the All England title to the previous weekend’s German Open victory as she proved too calm and too strong for defending champion Tine Rasmussen.
That denied Rasmussen a third Super Series title in a row following wins in Korea and Malaysia in January.
The Dane was undoubtedly left drained by an amazing semi-final comeback from a game and 16-9 down to defeat Jiang Yianjiao 24 hours earlier.
Although Rasmussen saved a match point before winning the second game she could not deny her younger opponent, who lifted the title with a 21-19 21-23 21-11 victory.
Wang said: “In the third game I felt physically stronger. It was a pity I didn’t take the match point in the second game but I really enjoyed myself out there. I had secretly imagined what it would be like to win the title but when I started the match I just focused on what I had to do. I think I played to my peak form.”
China had won four titles in 2005 – the year Robertson and Gail Emms won the Mixed Doubles - but the elusive fifth title came their way when former World Champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng defeated Koreans Han Sang Hoon and Hwang Ji Man 21-17 21-15.
Li Yongbo said: “We've got a really good team spirit and all the players wanted to achieve it. Obviously other countries wanted to but we really knew we could.”
The worrying thing is that he will want to mark next year’s one hundreth Yonex All England Championships by repeating the feat.
You better be there to see if they do – the Championships are a week later in 2010 from March 9-14.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Singles:
(2) Lin Dan (China) bt (1) Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 21-19 21-12.
Men’s Doubles:
(7) Cai Yun & Fu Haifeng (China) bt Han Sang Hoon & Hwang Ji Man (Korea) 21-17 21-15.
Women’s Singles:
Wang Yihan (China) bt (1) Tine Rasmussen, (Den)
Women’s Doubles:
(7) Zhang Yawen & Zhao Tingting (China) & Cheng Shu & Zhao Yunlei (China) 21-13 21-15.
Mixed Doubles:
(3) He Hanbin & Yu Yang (China) bt Ko Sung Hyun & Ha Jung Eun (Korea) 13-21 21-15 21-9.
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