Ji Xinpeng, seeded seventh in the men's tournament, beat three of the top-ranked players in the world on his way to the gold medal. His last victim was the Indonesian star Hendrawan, and the win came in just two sets. Ji also knocked off top seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and world number one Peter Gade of Denmark.

In women's doubles, world champs Ge Fei and Gu Jun added a second straight Olympic gold for good measure. Countrywomen Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei earned the silver, and Gao Ling and Qin Yiyuan the bronze.

Indonesia, China Earn Doubles Gold
Rivals Indonesia and China each picked up a gold medal as men's doubles and mixed doubles concluded Thursday. Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya of Indonesia combined to knock off Lee Dong-Soo and Yoo Yong-Sung of South Korea in the men's double title match. The mixed doubles went to Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China, who rallied from a crushing 15-1 loss in the first game to defeat Indonesia's Tri Kusharyanto and Minarti Timur in the best two-of-three competition. South Korea won the men's doubles bronze, and Britain took the bronze in mixed doubles.

Top Seed Out in Men's Badminton Singles
The ranks are thinning in Olympic men's badminton. Top seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia was knocked out of the competition Wednesday by China's Ji Xinpeng. And in a bit of international payback, Hidayat's teammate Hendrawan eliminated Sun Jun, the Chinese world champion. Sun had excused Danish legend Poul-Erik Larsen-Hoyer from the tournament in the first round. Another top player advancing Wednesday was Peter Gade of Denmark, who wiped out Indonesia's Marlye Mainaky.

Hoyer-Larsen to Call It Quits
Denmark's Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen says his competitive badminton career is all but over following a first-round singles loss to reigning world champion Hun Sun of China. Hoyer-Larsen -- the 1996 gold medalist -- forced Hun to three sets before losing Monday. He says he will retire after this year's Danish Open.

Top seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia scraped past unseeded Hidetaka Yamada in his first-round match Monday.
About Badminton
Badminton is familiar to most people as a lazy, backyard activity suitable for barbecues. But world class badminton -- an Olympic sport since 1992 -- is one of the wildest sports going, with the shuttlecock swatted around at speeds above 100 miles per hour.

Five gold medals will be awarded in Badminton in Sydney: men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.

The route to an Olympic medal involves a single-elimination tournament where the top eight players are seeded. The men play best-of-three matches involving games to 15 points, as do the doubles teams. There's a minor difference in women's singles -- the games are played to 11 points.
Asian nations have ruled Olympic badminton, with Indonesia and China the strongest threats. China's Xia Xuanze and Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat were among the top-ranked men in the world this summer. But Denmark also produces talented players, including the 1996 men's singles winner, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, Peter Gade Christensen and Camilla Martin. Besides Martin, top female contenders include China's Zhichao Gong, Dai Yun and Ze Zhaoying. Five of the top six women players in theInternational Badminton Federation world rankings are Chinese, but only three may qualify for Sydney.