CHINA'S Zhang Ning won her first World Badminton Championship yesterday, while compatriot Xia Xuanze captured the men's crown.

　　Zhang, seeded second, beat teammate Gong Ruina 11-6, 11-3 at the National Indoor Arena in Birming-ham.

　　In the men's final, Xia continued his dominance of Malaysian Wong Choon Hann, winning in three games 15-6, 13-15, 15-6 in 86 minutes.

　　Xia held a 7-0 career record against Wong prior to their showdown last night.

　　Wong lost to Xia most recently in the final of the China Open in 2001 and in the quarterfinals of the Sydney Olympic Games.

　　Zhang, 28, was a semi-finalist in Seville, Spain, two years ago.

　　Zhang had only beaten fourth-seeded Gong once before in five meetings - in the final of the Korean Open in March last year. She had lost two other finals to Gong.

　　"I have played her many times, it's not easy, very diffi-cult," Zhang said through a translator.

　　Zhang said she was glad to win over younger players.

　　"I practiced a lot," Zhang said. "For older players, you get more injuries, so you have to keep fit. It's not easy the older you get."

　　Zhang said she preferred to play her fellow Chinese.

　　"To play with the Chinese players, it's more easy because we know each other very well," Zhang said. "It's rather difficult when you are playing opponents from other countries."

　　Zhang and Gong had identical records coming in to the final - both had lost only 37 points and hadn't dropped a game.

　　Zhang last lost to Gong in the final of the China Open in December - one of four finals she reached but failed to win in 2002.

　　Zhang beat No 3 Mia Audina Tjiptawan of the Netherlands, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist, in the semifinals and 1999 world champion Camilla Martin of Denmark in the quarters.

　　She said she would continue to play and aim for next year's Olympics.

　　Gong had got the better of compatriot Zhou Mi in the other semifinal on Saturday.

　　In the mixed doubles final, South Koreans Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min beat top-seeded Olympic champions Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China 15-7, 15-8.

　　Kim and Ra also won the world championship in 1999.

　　"We expected a tough match today but it was much easier than we thought," Kim said. "We scored some quick points which gave us confidence and the Chinese lost confidence because of this. Our next target is the Olympics."

　　On saturday, Wong became the first Malaysian to reach a worlds final.

　　Wong beat South Korean Shon Seung-mo 15-4, 15-5 in the semifinals.

　　The world championships are the main qualification event for next year's Athens Olympics. The event was postponed from its original dates in May because of the SARS outbreak.

　　Before wong, no Malaysian singles player had progressed past the quarterfinals of the worlds.

　　"I'm delighted and happy to be able to achieve this win," ninth-seeded Wong said. "To get this result so far is overwhelming for me."

　　Shon beat top-seeded Chinese Chen Hong in a tough three-game match late on Friday and his tiredness showed on Saturday.

　　It took 12 minutes in the first game for him to register a point, when Wong returned wide, at 12-1.

　　Shon had difficulty moving around the court, giving Wong the opportunity for well-placed winners.

　　"I think he was exhausted and also I feel his legs were causing him a bit of problem, he wasn't moving that fluid," Wong said.

　　Xia beat 20-year-old unseeded compatriot Bao Chunlai 15-11, 15-7 in the first meeting between the pair.

　　Xia was always in control of his semifinal, forcing Bao to chase down his shots. He won with an overhead smash and applauded the crowd with his racket.

　　Danes lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen were to play Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya of Indonesia in the men's final and Gao was teaming up with Huang Sui to play the women's doubles final against top seeded compatriots Wei Yili and Zhao Tingting.