China's Ji Xinpeng Takes Men's Singles Title

Seventh seed JI Xinpeng of the People's Republic of China won the men's singles final in a 15-4, 15-13 upset victory over number two seed HENDRAWAN of Indonesia Saturday to give China its second badminton gold medal for the day.

In the 45-minute second game, the classy JI fought back from 4-9 down, then again at 10-13, winning the last five points in front of a rowdy, near-capacity crowd.

He seized the game impressively, slamming in a skilled overhead smash down the sideline to HENDRAWAN'S feet, which had the Indonesian cramped for room.

JI started slowly in both games, but clawed his way back into control against the experienced HENDRAWAN, who uncharacteristically made several unforced errors at the net in an otherwise high-quality contest.

JI, who lost to HENDRAWAN when they met in the 2000 Thomas Cup finals teams event in May, dominated the opening game, racing to a 10-3 lead. The Chinese player then smashed three more winners while HENDRAWAN gave up the other two points by hitting one wide and the other long.