LONDON – China recovered from the expulsion of its top seeds in a match-throwing scandal Saturday when Zhao Yunlei and Tian Qing won the Olympic women’s doubles, as Li Xuerui also took women’s singles gold.



Zhao and Tian beat Japanese fourth seeds Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa 21-10, 25-23 for the doubles gold, underlining their strength in depth after world No. 1 pair Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were kicked out this week.



Despite the controversy, which also involved players from South Korea and Indonesia, and drew a public apology from China’s head coach Li Yongbo, China is now on course for the first sweep of all five badminton titles.



Zhao also won the mixed doubles Friday with her boyfriend, Zhang Nan, making her the first player to win two badminton titles at the same Olympics – an achievement that left her in floods of tears.



Meanwhile, China’s Li stunned world No. 1 Wang Yihan 21-15, 21-23, 21-17 to win the women’s singles title, leaving her teammate in tears on the podium.



Separately, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian badminton player to earn an Olympic medal when China’s world No. 1 Wang Xin went off injured and in tears from their bronze medal play-off. Wang was leading 21-18, 1-0 when she was forced to quit after twice collapsing to the court with a knee injury. After the second fall, she was barely able to stand.



In the women’s doubles, European champions Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina of Russia took advantage of the decimated field to win the bronze medal match 21-9, 21-10 against Alex Bruce and Michele Lee of Canada. — AFP