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China retains women's badminton crown
China's formidable women's badminton line-up overcame stubborn resistance from South Korea to claim their fourth successive Uber Cup title 3-1.
The Chinese, all ranked in the top three, dropped their first point of the tournament with Lee Hyo-Jung and Hwang Yu-Mi surprising number one doubles pairing Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen 15-7, 15-10. Top-ranked singles player Gong Ruina had earlier battled back from a game and four points down in the second to beat Asian champion Jun Jae-Youn, sinking to her knees with relief as she completed the 7-11, 11-5, 11-7 victory. Zhang Ning soon restored China's lead, coming through a tough second game to beat Seo Yoon-Hee 11-1, 13-10. Gao Ling and Huang Sui then wrapped up the country's ninth Uber Cup with semi-finals heroine Lee Yun-Hwa and Lee Kyung-Won unable to stop them running out 15-6, 15-2 winners in a largely empty Senayan Indoor Stadium. Delighted head coach Li Yongbo said he was pleased with his players despite a below-par performance.
"We prepared well for this game and we're very happy to win the Uber Cup," he added. His opposite number Kim Joong-Su said the turning-point of the match was in the first singles, when Jun Jae-Youn was a game and 4-0 up against Gong Ruina but pushed an easy winner into the net. "When Jun was 4-0 up she pushed the shuttlecock into the net and that point really became a burden to her because she kept on thinking about it," he said. China are now on course for a famous Thomas and Uber Cup double with their men's team playing Denmark for the Thomas Cup trophy on Sunday. China will again start as favourites but Denmark's coach Steed Pedersen said the Danes' emotional semi-final victory over hosts Indonesia had given them a psychological boost. "This win has given us a mental boost and it's always fun to play when you're winning," he said after Denmark's first ever Thomas Cup win against the 13-time champions late on Friday. "China are a really good team but so are we, and if we can play like today and put pressure on the Chinese team of course we have a good chance to win." Denmark's hopes are likely to rely greatly on the performance of Peter Gade, the former world number one who will face his nemesis, current top player Lin Dan, in the first singles match-up. Gade, who has spoken of his desire to overhaul Lin after four successive losses, was disappointing in the semi-final, crashing to a 15-4, 15-8 loss to Sony Dwi Kuncoro. "I think Peter's going to have to try to beat him this time and hopefully he can," said Pedersen.
"That would be a good start for the Danish team but Lin Dan plays very well. It will be a difficult match but I'm sure Peter is looking forward to it." Like their women's team, China's vaunted line-up strolled to the final without dropping a game including a 3-0 demolition of South Korea in the semis. Head coach Li Yongbo said the top seeds were "desperate" to reclaim the title which has eluded them for 14 years. "It's been a long time since we last had our hands on the trophy," head coach Li Yongbo said. "The players' solid displays in the semi-finals have given us confidence that this could be the year to end our drought." |
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