ALL ENGLAND 2013 Finals – Wang/Yu win women’s doubles title for second time

Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang (pictured left) win their second Yonex All England women’s doubles title as a pair (third for Yu Yang) against one half of last year’s victors.

By Michael Burke, Badzine Correspondent, live from Birmingham.  Photos: Yohan Nonotte for Badmintonphoto (live).

A cold and snowy start greeted finals day in Birmingham, with the day’s play started off with an All China women’s doubles match. With three of the players on court having won at the Yonex All England before, there was plenty of experience despite Zhao Yunlei / Cheng Shu (pictured right) having had to come through qualification to get there.

The first game saw some close exchanges with great placement from both pairs. The experience of the more established Wang / Yu showed though, despite a series of errors from Yu keeping Zhao / Cheng in the game.

Ultimately strong attacking play with some big smashes from Wang saw them take the first game.

The second game was less competitive as Wang / Yu cut out the mistakes to pile more pressure on their opponents, and always ahead, the result was never in doubt as Wang / Yu won back the title they won together in 2011.

Speaking after the match Yu said: “This is our second time winning here, we enjoyed the game. The All England is a very important tournament, because it has a long history. China would win the final either way so we were just happy it was us.”

The full results for the day can be found here.

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