China won three of the five titles at the World badminton championships but there may yet be a sting in the tail.
Eyebrows were raised last Friday when the second game of a women's doubles quarter-final between two Chinese pairs looked some way short of competitive. It finished in just 11 minutes compared to 45 minutes for the first for a final scoreline of 15-11, 15-3.
On Saturday the International Badminton Federation said there would be no imminent action although tournament referee Henry Ee of Singapore will report to the IBF's technical committee.
China's head coach dismissed any talk of match fixing but Stephen Baddeley, chief executive of the Badminton Association of England, has called for the Chinese to hold an inquiry.
"It is utterly unacceptable to us as organisers and promoters of this event that any competing nation allows this to happen," he said.
Whatever the argument, it was all cut and thrust on Sunday when a large crowd at the National Indoor Arena ignored brilliant sunshine outside and thrilled to six hours of top badminton.
Xia Xuanze won the men's singles, fighting off gallant Malaysian Wong Choong Hann 15-6, 13-15, 15-6 while 28-year-old Zhang Ning deposed women's singles titleholder Gong Ruina 11-6, 11-3.
Gao Ling and Huang Sui lifted the women's doubles crown, compensation for Gao who had earlier lost the mixed 15-7, 15-8 with partner Zhang Jun to famed South Koreans Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min.
The Asian stranglehold was broken in an exciting men's doubles where Denmark's Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen edged out Indonesia's Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya 15-7, 13-15, 15-13.
The championships had been originally set for May but were called off at the height of the SARS epidemic.
