Lin Dan follows in badminton hero's footsteps

China's Lin Dan retained his world badminton title yesterday with a masterful 21-11 22-20 success over ninth-seeded Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro and joined boyhood hero Yang Yang in the sport's record books.

Yang won back-to-back world titles in the late 1980s and until yesterday no other man had defended his crown successfully.

"I liked him a lot," Lin told a media conference. "He's been my idol since I was a boy and I worked hard to follow in his footsteps."

Lin now looks ahead to next year's Olympics and the chance to erase from the memory the Athens Games where he lost in the first round.

Women's singles final: Zhu Lin (China) beat Chen Wang (Hong Kong) 21-8 21-12.