JAKARTA: China's young shuttler Xie Xingfan stole the top title in the ladies singles from third-seed Indonesian Ellen Angelina in the final of the $150,000 Asian Badminton Championships here on Sunday.

But the host country calmly collected two titles, both from all-Indonesian finals in the men's singles and in the mixed doubles.

The 19-year-old unseeded Xie began her match in a lame fashion, often unable to return dropshots from Angelina, six years her senior. Angelina led the first set throughout and took it 11-2.

But in the second set, Xie changed her play pattern to cover for her weakness in returning dropshots. Xie banked on the advantage of her height to rely on lob shots and a more aggressive play to turn the tables.

She evened the score early in the second set at 1-1 and kept an increasingly wide and unbeatable lead to close the set off at 11-7.

A much more confident Xie maintained the strategy in the decider, keeping the pressure on her opponent's weakness - her difficulty in returning lobs.

With few problems, and helped by Angelina's unforced errors, Xie took the third set at 11-3. The title was the first and only one for the Chinese in the Asian Badminton Championships where China did not field its top players.

In the men's singles, top seed Taufik Hidayat defeated Rony Agustinus, a newcomer, in a marathon match 14-17, 15-2, 15-3. Hidayat had already surprised the championship by defeating second-seed Wong Choon Hann from Malaysia in the quarter-finals.

The first two sets were fast-paced with both players engaged in an aggressive exchange of attacks and serves. Hidayat relied on short services and his deadly jump smashes while Agustinus surprised the crowds with a display that showed he was perfectly capable of playing at the same level.

Agustinus pocketted the first set with his agressive play at 17-14 but in the second set, his endurance greatly weakened by the long fast rallies in the first set, began to undermine him and cost him the set at 2-15.

Hidayat came on strong in the decider, attacking from the first seconds with a rapid succession of accurate smashes ending fast and brief rallies.

The pressure was maintained, and Agustinus was unable to provide any effective resistance with Hidayat leading the match at 10-0 before Agustinus scored his first point.

An exhausted Agustinus attempted a final blast of attacks but Hidayat's steep smash ended the match at 15-3 in his favour. Hidayat clinched $11,000 while Agustinus went away $7,500 richer.

Earlier, Indonesia's senior pair Bambang Supriyanto and Minarti Timur - who were runners up at the Olympics - won the tournament's first title, in the mixed doubles.

They took the match in straight sets, 15-10, 15-12, from their younger opponents, Wahyu Agung and Ema Ermawati for the $7,500 prize. Playing an aggressive game, Agung and Ermawati managed to catch up with their more experienced opponents repeatedly but Supriyanto and Timur proved the better, more in control of their pace and with more accurate shots.

In the doubles, Indonesia's Rexy Mainaky and Tony Gunawan will face Malaysia's duo Chong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah in the men's while another Indonesian team, Etty Tantri and Minarti Timur will play against Korean shuttlers Lee Hyo Jung and Yim Kyung Jin.