The Thais' heart-pounding 18-21 21-17 23-25 loss in the hard-fought semi-final yesterday at the hands of England's Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms, world No-4 and joint third seeds, gave the Kingdom their lone medal in Madrid.

At the previous championships in Anaheim, California, Thailand had also won a bronze medal through Sudket and Saralee in the mixed doubles, making it a new chapter in the Kingdom's badminton history, as Thai players have never come this far in the star-studded tournament.

This year, the superb pairing remained Thailand's best hope in the world meet. They performed well to stun Indonesian Open champions Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen from China with a scintillating come-from-behind 2-1 win in the quarter-finals.

Against the English duo in the semi-finals yesterday, the world No-6 mixed duo made a solid start, thanks largely to Sudket's series of fierce jump smashes. Still, the English challengers proved an impossible nut to crack, powering past the Thais 21-18 in the first game.

Sudket and Saralee, whose best performances this year were runners-up at the Thailand Open and the Asian Championships, stormed back to win the second game 21-17. The decider became more thrilling as leads changed hands several times. However, Robertson and Emms fared better to win the see-saw game 25-23 and a final berth. 

Bao clicks for China

Bao ensures China wins men's singles

n Bao Chunlai made sure China would win the men's singles title at the World Badminton Championships by becoming a surprise finalist at the Palacio de Deportes yesterday.

The seventh seed upset the seedings for the second successive day when he brought down Lee Hyun-il, the fifth-seeded South Korean by 21-15 21-19 in a tense and very unpredictable semi-final.

The air-conditioning had been on in the hall most of the morning, which lowered the temperature significantly, and made it harder to get the shuttle on the floor.

Neither player was at his best in a battle of left-handers in these changed conditions, but Bao produced a less error-prone performance until he was a game and 19-15 up, at which stage he wobbled.

Lee then scrapped his way back to 19-19, only to lift the shuttle long to go to 19-20 and push the shuttle into the net on the match point, as Bao tried his last attack.

It eliminated the last non-Chinese player, with former world number one Lin Dan and former All-England champion Chen Hong contesting the other semi-final.

"I felt a lot of pressure before the match, although I was confident because I had beaten Lee before," said Bao. "My coach told me to keep my mood balanced and do the best I can. That was good advice.

"I tried to pay attention to playing consistently. I also prepared for everything by thinking before the match about everything that could happen.

"I made mistakes when I got to 19 when I tried to win too quickly. It was a little bit dramatic but also good. But if I lost that second game I might have been angry."

Asked if he was pleased for China, now that he had guaranteed the best outcome for his country, he said: "I'm pleased and I feel very relaxed."

Lee took the defeat in good spirit. "This was a very good chance for me, because I am in good condition. But so is the Chinese player. China is too strong."

It also made sure that China would win two titles, for Gao Ling and Huang Sui, twice the former world champions were in the final again, contesting it with their compatriots Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili.

With world number one Zhang Ning reaching the women's singles final with a 21-18, 21-11 win over Petra Overzier, the surprise survivor from Germany, the Chinese were also closing in on a third title.

They also had a realistic chance of a fourth, the men's doubles, with the top-seeded Fu Haifeng and Cao Yun in the semi-finals. But the mixed was out of their grasp.

Instead England made sure of their first title in 23 years by achieving both finalists, the Olympic silver medallists Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms and their respective room mates, Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg, the eighth seeds.