林丹謝杏芳繼去年全英公開賽雙雙奪冠之后，今年再度攜手衛冕。在伯明翰，中國羽球情侶用自己的雙手續寫著浪漫的一幕——在女單頒獎典禮上，素來激情四溢的林丹勇敢地給謝杏芳送花并獻上祝福的親吻。本次全英羽毛球公開賽一起衛冕是林丹和謝杏芳在各項賽事中第10次雙雙奪冠，謝杏芳甜蜜地表示，她相信能夠取得這樣的榮譽，就是因為兩人能夠一起互相支持、互相安慰。 精彩圖片：All England badminton championships

China's world top seeds Lin Dan (R) and his girl friend Xie Xingfang pose for a photo after each of them won the singles titles at the final match at the All England badminton championships in Birmingham, England March 11, 2007. [Reuters]

Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang, the boyfriend-girlfriend badminton players who each sit atop the world rankings, became champions together at theAll-England Openfor the second successive year on Sunday.

Lin showed himself arguably the most popular of the many Chinese champions as he won his third All-England Open title in four years at the British national indoor arena.

The elastic and acrobatic left-hander received a great reception from the English crowd after his 21-13, 21-12 victory over his compatriot, Chen Yu, the sixth seed.

He got another one when he gave Xie a kiss by the podium when she received her trophy after winning 21-6, 21-13 against Pi Hongyang, the China-raised surprise finalist who now plays for France.

Xie's overwhelming win - the twig-thin champion with the brilliantly light movement looked the best player this week by an increasing distance - made her only the third woman since World War Two to have won three successive singles titles.

There was never any doubt that she would achieve it, and she agreed this was the best she had played. More of the questions, however, were directed towards her relationship with Lin.

Together they have now won ten titles, she believes, something which is of great value, because they are able to support, and console each other.

Asked what makes them so successful, she said: "Both of us are very good players and we have come up together. The main thing is not to be nervous and to have the mental strength in the middle of a match to face the challenges.

Lin reserved his most authoritative display for the final, having twice been taken the full distance earlier in the tournament, and having looked in real trouble in the third game of his quarter-final against Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro.

But now Lin has again made himself popular for his ability to project spectacular winners from difficult round-the-head positions, to play the rallies in a variety for different ways, and to express his feelings.

Several times he dived dramatically along the floor, once he queried a line decision with the umpire, and at the end he moved towards the crowd and applauded them before running back to embrace his opponent.

Afterwards he said he hoped to celebrate by doing some shopping, and on being told that shops close early on Sundays in the UK he joked: "I had better leave now then!"

（Agencies） 

Vocabulary:    

All-England Open: 全英公開賽

（英語點津陳蓓編輯）