LIN Dan’s invincibility on the international stage was underlined yet again when he conquered not only the World Championships for the second time but also earned the support of Malaysian fans for the first time at Putra Stadium yesterday.

The top seed proved that his recent loss of form was a blip and showed true grit against Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia winning 21-11, 22-20 in 50 minutes.

Not having won a title in Malaysia before, Lin Dan may be forgiven for thinking the battle was far from over as Sony was backed by hordes of Indonesians in the stadium.

The local fans, who used to be Lin Dan’s biggest problem in his battles with national shuttler Lee Chong Wei, yesterday became his ally and the World No 1 shut out Sony.

"I’m very happy to have won after working hard in this tournament," said Lin Dan after the match yesterday.

"The crowd did help when I was down 18-19 in the second game and it’s good to finally win in Malaysia.

"There is nothing to prove actually as I cannot keep winning every tournament," he added.

"Since I was a child, I see every step as a challenge, a new beginning. This is the reason I don’t relax my grip despite winning so many tournaments.

"I’m not thinking about the Olympics gold yet as I must keep winning more tournaments and qualify for Beijing first."

China also continued their dominance in the women’s singles despite the loss of their top two players — Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang — as Zhu Lin rose to the occasion to beat Hong Kong’s Wang Chen 21-8, 21-12 for the title.

The giants had already confirmed the women’s doubles crown in an all-China affair in the final.

Olympic champions Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen battled past Gao Ling-Huang Sui 21-16, 21-19 to secure their third crown.

Indonesia, who won the mixed doubles title through Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir, added a second when Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan won the men’s doubles crown.

Markis-Hendra, who have never won a title in their four-year international career, beat South Korea’s Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae 21-19, 21-19 in 33 minutes.

Copyright © 2007 NST Online.