Second seeds Du Jing and Yu Yang defended the glory of Chinese women's double shuttlers who secured the gold in previous three Olympics by defeating Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung from South Korea 21-15, 21-13 in Beijing Friday.

The up-and-coming pair of China, who beat their compatriots Wei Yili and Zhang Jiewen in the semi-final, shouldered the huge responsibility after defending champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen lost to a Japanese pair in a quarter-final.

"We felt that it's our obligation to win the gold after Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen lost. It's a must," said 24-year-old Du Jing.

Du and Yu didn't let down the enthusiastic spectators in the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, and consistently exhibited their powerful attacks in the first game, which was interrupted by a requirement of emergent medical care from Lee Kyung-won, apparently injured in her left ankle.

"The incident didn't interrupt our rhythm. We continued to follow our tactics set before the match," said 22-year-old Yu Yang.

Lee Kyung-won admitted at the press conference that the ankle injury was indeed a factor of their loss, but "even if I was not obsessed with the injury, it was still hard for us to win as the opponents really are stronger than us," said the 28-year-old veteran.

In the second game, the Koreans led the score till 11-11, after which the Chinese pair staged a 10-2 run and sealed the game at 21-13 amid thundering chants of the crowd.

As Lee Hyo-jung smashed the shuttlecock out of the side line, Du Jing and Yu Yang yelled at the victory and jumped into their coaches Li Yongbo and Tian Binyi, the men's doubles pair who won a bronze medal at Barcelona Olympics for China.

During the awarding ceremony, the two Chinese pairs all burst into happy tears. Stepping down the medals podium, Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen walked toward the mixed zone, arm in arm with Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung, their opponents on the court, but also friends in private.

"I feel privileged to play with good players from China," said Lee Kyun-won, who was very much impressed by the enthusiasm of Chinese spectators. "I didn't expect that the home advantages were so strong."

The world No.1 Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen has announced their retirement after the defeat, while world No.2 Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen also expressed their desire of bowing out of the spotlight.

"We find that we're going to shoulder much larger responsibilities after the Olympics, as we will lead the reigning Chinese women's doubles squad," Yu said. "We still need to improve ourselves."

"The gold won't be an end to our career, but a new start," said Du.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15,2008)