A new generation of Chinese stars mounted the winners' podium yesterday when two youngsters won the singles titles at the US$250,000 Aviva-Cofco China Masters.
Twenty-year-old Chen Jin, who only had a German Open title before, stunned veteran Peter Gade of Denmark 2-0 in the men's final while unheralded Wang Lin, at just 17 years old, beat compatriot and world number two Xie Xingfang in three sets to clinch the women's title.
However, the men's final was disrupted by a controversial call at a crucial stage of the first set when the line judge ruled a Gade shot out. The score was 20-19 to Chen and the Chinese player then took went on to take the first set 21-19. He then wrapped up the match 21-14 in the following set.
Chen said he studied the video tape of the match between Gade and world number one Lin Dan the night before and it paid dividends.
In the women's singles, Wang, who was only promoted to the national squad last year and has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in an open tournament, rallied to upset the reigning All England champion.
Pre-tournament favourite Xie took the first set 21-15 but that was as good as it got. With a superb all-round play and a strong defence, Wang levelled the score 21-13 and sealed the victory with a 21-15 win in the deciding rubber.
