林丹谢杏芳继去年全英公开赛双双夺冠之后，今年再度携手卫冕。在伯明翰，中国羽球情侣用自己的双手续写着浪漫的一幕——在女单颁奖典礼上，素来激情四溢的林丹勇敢地给谢杏芳送花并献上祝福的亲吻。本次全英羽毛球公开赛一起卫冕是林丹和谢杏芳在各项赛事中第10次双双夺冠，谢杏芳甜蜜地表示，她相信能够取得这样的荣誉，就是因为两人能够一起互相支持、互相安慰。 精彩图片：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: 全英公开赛

（英语点津陈蓓编辑）