China sprung yet another surprise when they won the men's doubles title back with a brand new pair. This is the remarkable Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan,who were unseeded and who completed an unexpected journey by beating seeds for the third time.

They did that with a 21-11,21-9 win over were Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hasagawa, a Japanese pair who made a full contribution to a magnificent spectacle, full of dynamic rallies, but rarely looked like altering the phenomenal momentum of the Chinese newcomers.

It was high speed level pegging for the first dozen points before the Liu and Qiu began to pull away. Theirs was a potent combo, with Liu full of amazing darts and lightning lunges in the forecourt and Qiu reliable with his serving, steady of temperament, and solidly heavy with his smash.

The interval point of the first game came with a contortionist's round-the-head smash from Liu which gave the Chinese pair their fifth point in a row and accelerating progress.

By then their adrenaline was pumping and their standard rose dramatically. A major catalyst, oddly, came with a point which the Japanese won to get them back to 11-14 having been five points in arrears.

In the process Liu fell over in the forehand back corner, but incredibly managed to play two defensive shots back from his prone position. Though the Japanese put the shuttle way at the third attempt, all eyes had been on the dashing Liu, and when he got up he proved even more mercurial than before.

Liu and Qiu went on to take seven points in a row and the first game with something to spare, and the rest of the match had a different feeling about it.

Endo and Hasagawa did well to get back from 4-7, to 6-7 but after that a storm of fast attacks hit them, mixed in with tactical lulls and a renewed hurricane of fierce flat shuttles from the mid-court and steep kills and smashes.

The Chinese pair took seven of the next eight points, with Qiu nearly burying a shuttle in the fallen Endo's midriff near the end. He apologised for that, but there was nothing deferent about his emotions in victory, as the Chinese revelled in their upsets

Earlier Liu and Qiu, little considered until they knocked out the favourites Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the second round, upset Hendra Setiawan, a men's doubles gold medallist at the Beijing Olympics, and Mohammad Ahsan.

If they stick together we should be hearing and seeing a lot more of this lefty-righty, quick-mover, heavy-hitter partnership. Would they continue permanently together, Qiu was asked on court afterwards.

"We will," he was translated as having said. But we must wait and see.

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