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WORLD MASTERS GAMES: ZHAO TAKES BATTLE OF THE LEGENDS

August 23, 1998 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - 1991 world men's singles champion Zhao Jianhua of China, currently a Singapore resident, yesterday defeated twice world champion Yang Yang, also of China and currently a resident of Malaysia, in the 30-to-34-year old elite athlete finals of the World Masters Games badminton competition in Portland, Oregon to take the highly-touted battle of the two legends.

Yang Yang had the early advantage in the first set but began to slow down in mid-game. Zhao managed to pull ahead and take the game 15-11. In the second, Zhao had the momentum and got a lead which he never relinquished, taking the set 15-9.

After the match, Yang Yang said that he had began to feel pain in his left calf in the middle of the first game and that he was not able to move as quickly as he wanted to. He also said that Zhao played very well and was more fit than he was.

The two world champions later combined to take the men's doubles gold medal in the 30-to-34-year old elite group. Yang and Zhao defeated the German pair of Franz Mueller and Bernd Schwitzgebbel in the final 15-1 and 15-9.

In the first set, the Germans, who had played each other in an exhausting two-hour bronze medal playoff earlier, were barely in the match and they did not have enough to battle the skill and teamwork of the two world champions. Yang and Zhao relaxed somewhat in the second while the Germans found some energy to win several rallies. In the end, though, the classy skills and shots of Yang Yang and Zhao Jianhua were still too much, despite the increased efforts of Mueller and Schwitzgebbel.

Some of the results from the 1998 World Masters Games elite athlete badminton competition:

30+ Group
Men's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Zhao Jian Hua (Singapore) beat Yang Yang (Malaysia) 15-11, 15-9
Bronze Medal Match - Bernd Schwitzgebbel (Germany) beat Franz Mueller (Germany) 15-10, 17-15, 15-13
Women's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Joy Kitzmiller (USA) beat Karen Preedy (USA) 11-4, 8-11, 11-5
Bronze Medal Match - Sunny Kim (USA) beat Michelle Chartier (Canada) 11-4, 11-8
Men's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Yang (Malaysia)/Zhao (Singapore) beat Mueller/Schwitzgebbel (Germany) 15-1, 15-9
Bronze Medal Match - Barkenaes/Drimusz (USA) beat Cuyegkeng (Canada)/Nieuw (Aruba) walkover
Women's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Preedy (USA)/Thomson (Canada) beat Chartier (Canada)/ Kitzmiller (USA) 11-5, 9-11, 11-8
Bronze Medal - Kim (USA)/Nariman (India) Mixed Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Barkenaes (USA)/Rogers (Canada)beat Rossi/Kitzmiller (USA) 15-2, 15-11
Bronze Medal Match - Preedy/Preedy (USA) beat Goss/Chartier (Canada) 11-9, 11-8
35+ Group
Men's Singles
Gold Medal Match - John Goss (Canada) beat Garv Stensland (USA) 15-5, 15-6
Bronze Medal Match - Milind Ghate (India) beat Alessandro Rossi (USA) walkover
Women's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Diana Koleva-Tzetanova (Bulgaria) beat Ufilya Davis (USA) 11-2, 11-3
Men's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Jonatan (USA)/Yao (Canada) beat Ghate/Iyangar (India) 15-13, 15-9
Bronze Medal Match - Hristov/Stoynov (Bulgaria) beat Goss/Holoboff (Canada) 15-13, 17-14
Women's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Kwok/Chan (Hong Kong) beat Nariman/Shah (India) 15-8, 15-9
Bronze Medal - Rogers/Thomson (Canada)
Mixed Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Stoynov/Koleva-Tzetanova (Bulgaria) beat Chen/Lira (USA) 15-1, 15-7
Bronze Medal Match - Holoboff/Rogers (Canada) beat Hristov/Janeva-Doukova (Bulgaria) 15-5, 15-13
30+ and 35+ Team
(Round-robin)
Gold Medal - Canada-Bulgaria (Combined) - 1 win,1 loss (9 games won - 5 lost)
Silver Medal - Team 1 (Combined) - 1 win, 1 loss (7-7)
Bronze Medal - Weekend Warriors (USA) - 1 win, 1 loss (5-9)

40+ Group
Men's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Tariq Farooq (Austria) beat Peter Higman (England) 15-10, 15-11
Bronze Medal Match - Edgar Hammes (Germany) beat Kevin Ross (New Zealand) 15-2, 15-1
Women's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Ami Shah (India) beat Chan (Hong Kong) 11-8, 11-0
Bronze Medal Match - Aneta Janeva-Doukova (Bulgaria) beat Robyn McFarlane (New Zealand) 11-6, 11-5
Men's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Jonatan (USA)/Yao (Canada) beat Chen/Hankins (USA) 15-3, 17-15
Bronze Medal Match - Hammes/Reuther (Germany) beat Bolter (USA)/Farooq (Austria) 15-12, 15-4
Women's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Davidson/Hurst (England) beat Desai/Shah (India) 15-7, 15-4
Bronze Medal Match - Brunt/Ng (Australia) beat Acuna/Lira (USA) 15-10, 15-11
45+ Group
Men's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Cheng Jia-yan (Taiwan) beat Michael Walker (USA) 15-6, 15-5
Bronze Medal Match - Subrata Bannerjee (India) beat Laszlo Drimusz (USA) 15-8, 15-4
Women's Singles
(Round-robin)
Gold Medal - Betty Bartlett (England)
Silver Medal - Sudha Sharma (India)
Bronze Medal - Elizabeth Wilson (USA)
Men's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Dommeyer/Gouw (USA) beat Bell/Hurst (England) 17-14, 15-8
Bronze Medal Match - Chew/Walker (USA) beat Anderson/Cook (USA) walkover
Women's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Acuna (USA)/Bartlett (England) beat Ackerman/Wilson (USA) 15-2, 15-9
Bronze Medal Match - Cicrich/Vanarath (USA) beat Kerr (Australia)/Sharma (India) walkover
Mixed Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Cocker/Bartlett (England) Cheng/Lee (Taiwan) 15-11, 15-7
50+ Group
Men's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Paul Whetnall (England) beat Dave Eddy (England) 15-12, 15-11
Bronze Medal Match - Kajal Saha (India) beat Chaovalit Ruktoume (USA) 15-6, 15-6
Women's Singles
Gold Medal Match - Chuzuko Oketani (Japan) beat Charlotte Acherman (USA) 11-3, 11-2
Bronze Medal Match - Ada Toelken-Becker (USA) beat Irene Kerr (Australia) 11-2, 11-4
Men's Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Cocker/Eddy (England) beat McConnell/Niven (Canada) no score reported
Bronze Medal Match - Fuessl/Stewart (Germany) beat Cook/Gouw (USA) no score reported
Mixed Doubles
Gold Medal Match - Yamamoto/Oketani (Japan) beat Niven/Dryborough (Canada) 15-10, 15-9

(Results from 55+, 60+, 65+ Elite Groups and the competitive groups were not available)

(mcoe/dsimmons)