BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Zhang Ning, at the age of 33, won the gold medal of badminton women's singles here on Saturday at the Beijing Olympic Games, becoming the first Chinese woman shuttler to win two consecutive Olympic golds in this event.
Zhang won the title by beating world No. 1 Xie Xingfang, who is Zhang's teammate, at 21-12, 10-21, 21-18.
It is a duel of will and courage instead of skills as both were on the verge of exhaustion following days of fierce fights against the world's top players.
Zhang intensified attacks while Xie made wrong judgments after the two reached 5-5 in the first game, ending the first game 21-12.
Xie revenged in the second game and achieved a good start at 5-0. She had since taking the lead until the game ended.
In the decisive game, both used rackets to support the bodies amid intervals of the competition, which was a sign of limits of physical energy. They were 16-16 at one time, but Zhang was more persistent afterwards.
Zhang burst into tears as the last returning shuttlecock from Xie touched the net and fell to the ground of Xie's half.
The defending Olympic champion said on Friday that she would do her best to fight Xie in the final, "so I can have some sweet memories for myself."
