Seventeen-year-old Wang Lin's "dark horse" story led to a happy ending when she lifted the "master" cup of women's singles here Sunday at the 2006 Avivo-Cofco China Masters Badminton Championships.

It was the teenager's third consecutive turnovers as she toppled the top three ranked women's singles Zhang Ning, Wang Chen and Xie Xingfang successively all from lagging one set behind.

Crowned first time in an international tournament, the badminton-family-born girl was happy but calm.

"I am pleased to win," said Wang. "but I still have much to improve."

World number two Xie Xingfang, China, powered to a 21-15 win in the first set of the final, but was levelled by 21-13 in an error-strewn second set.

Wang, called into the National team in 2004, made consecutive unforced errors on the net, trailing 9-11 in the third set, before she came back to a 17-14 lead making use of Xie's errors.

Two powerful smashes brought Wang five match points and she caught the first when Xie was forced another forehand error, winning 21-15.

"I didn't prepare well enough for the match," said Xie, newly crowned world champion. "I made too many mistakes.

"Wang played well. She is one of the most promising young players in our team, but she needs more world-class experiences."

With both her parents coaching the provincial badminton team of Zhejiang, East China, Wang played badminton when she was a child, but started her professional career only after 2000.

Editor: Donald