CHINA NATIONAL GAMES – Li leads army to team victory

Olympic champion Li Xuerui led the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) team to claim their first-ever badminton women’s team title at the 12th Chinese National Games on Friday in Liaoning. The Olympic champion and World Championship silver medallist beat Wang Shixian to give her team-mates the deciding lead for a final 3-1 victory over Jiangsu, who had won the event the last time, in 2009. Bronze went to Guangdong Province.

In the men’s event, the People’s Liberation Army, led by Lin Dan, scooped a historical bronze medal by beating Beijing 3-2 after more than 5 hours of play. The title, however, went to Fujian, home of Chen Long, which beat Jiangsu in the final.

The individual event has started and Lin Dan and Chen Long are set to meet in the final of the event. Lin Dan has already won the event in 2005 and 2009 and would enter history as the first man to win the Chinese “Mini Olympics” three times in a row. They have both entered the quarter-finals and stand on either side of the draw. In the women’s individual event, Li Xuerui will have some tough opponents with Wang Shixian, Wang Yihan – all three have entered the quarter-finals easily.

The Chinese Games are being held every 4 years and are known to be China’s mini-Olympics, as all of Chinese top players represent their respective home province or municipality in the country’s premier sporting event.

All results here (in Chinese): http://www.12th-games.com.cn