"Our opponents were able to slow down the pace of the game today, which tested our patience, so we won largely because we were able to remain composed under such circumstances,” Du Jing gave a brief analysis of the key to their victory over the defending champions and current world number 1 pair of Cheng/Zhao.

"Today's victory is an encouragement for us,” Du Jing continued, “though it does not rule out the fact that there is still plenty of room for us to improve in our game as between the two of us, our style and techniques are still very different.  We will have to keep on training hard and continue to communicate with each other in order to perfect our game play.”

"Nonetheless, it is still an emotional victory for us as we've come a long way this year due to my serious injury after the All-England, we've not been able to compete as much as we'd like to and that jeopardised our World Championships' performance and even though we won the Macau Open recently, that was after all still not a Super Series title,” revealed Du as tears started welling up in her eyes.

This is Du/Yu’s second China Masters title as the duo had won the inaugural title in 2005 when they were just paired up.  They only started making their mark in the discipline after the Super Series inaugurated in 2007. Du said, "It is apparent to everyone that my partner has all along been very supportive towards me and ever so vigilant on court, so we hope that winning this title is symbolic of a new dawn for us.”

Du’s partner Yu Yang echoed the same sentiments, saying, “As we carried with us regrets for not being at our best at the World Championships due to injury, we were determined to play our hearts out at this Championship and we had a good run as a result. It has greatly boosted our confidence and I hope that we will be able to continue this good run in Japan to take a consecutive title!"


Though it was the shortest final match of the afternoon, the 7th-seeded Boonsak Ponsana did put on a classy display to force the two-time champion to showcase his lightning reflexes. Dubbed “Thai Superman” in Thailand, Boonsak, who is currently completing his thesis for his Masters degree in Thailand, has had a sensational tournament, defeating 3rd-seeded Peter Gade and 2nd-seeded Chen Jin en route to the final.

Boonsak appeared to have found Lin Dan’s weakness in retrieving smashes from his backhand back court concentrated his attacking efforts down the same sweet spot to stay abreast of his title chances. But Lin Dan proved to be more consistent than Boonsak to deny the Thai his second Super Series title and claim his ninth Super Series title, edging out Lee Chong Wei, who has 8 Super Series titles under his belt.

Lin Dan shared his victory sentiments, he said, "This is my first time competing in Changzhou, and what I'm most pleased about is to have contested against players whom I regard as my toughest opponents in the circuit such as Park Sung Hwan, Lee Chong Wei, and Boonsak. I'm also pleased about winning the title as the National Games is taking place in a fortnight's time and I hope to be able to persist to the very end.”

"Unlike last year where I'd desire to win every single Championship,” recounted Lin Dan, “which I do feel has often affected me adversely in the emotional and psychological aspects of the game. Fortunately, after winning the Olympic title that I’d craved, I'm now able to take on a less temperamental attitude during my games, and I now have the capacity to focus on the process instead of just on the outcome."

Boonsak, though unable to spoil China’s party, will be fondly remembered for being the sole surviving foreigner in Changzhou and for his gallant display against Chen Jin in the semi-final. Boonsak said, "I guess yesterday's match was too exhausting for me, so I wasn't in tip top condition today. Moreover, Lin Dan is essentially an outstanding athlete and his overall condition and form is definitely better than mine.”