Thomas Cup: Yongbo salutes players' mental strength in front of noisy crowd
News 4:47 PM
CHINA chief coach Li Yongbo paid tribute to his players for not allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by the vociferous home crowd in their semi-final tie against Malaysia last night.
Olympic champion Lin Dan started the ball rolling by demolishing world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in straight games and it was smooth sailing from then on for the Chinese team, who went on to crush the hosts' dream of repeating their 1992 achievement on home soil.
World champions Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun pounced on Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong to hand China a two-nil cushion with a 21-15, 21-10 win.
Chen Jin finished off Wong Choong Hann 21-16, 21-7 as the Malaysian crowd were left frustrated once again.
“The Malaysian supporters were making a lot of noise and putting a lot of pressure on us from the start,” said Yongbo, who also complimented the Malaysian shuttlers for putting up a fight.
“If our players cannot handle the pressure from the start, we could have run into trouble.
“I want to salute our players for coping with the pressure well.
“Everything was possible tonight. It could have been 3-0 or 3-2 and it depended on the performance of the players on court.
“Malaysia tried their best but I think we were better overall. It's just that we handled the situation better.”
It will still be a dream final for badminton fans with China going up against Indonesia tomorrow.
Olympic champion Lin Dan started the ball rolling by demolishing world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in straight games and it was smooth sailing from then on for the Chinese team, who went on to crush the hosts' dream of repeating their 1992 achievement on home soil.
World champions Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun pounced on Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong to hand China a two-nil cushion with a 21-15, 21-10 win.
Chen Jin finished off Wong Choong Hann 21-16, 21-7 as the Malaysian crowd were left frustrated once again.
“The Malaysian supporters were making a lot of noise and putting a lot of pressure on us from the start,” said Yongbo, who also complimented the Malaysian shuttlers for putting up a fight.
“If our players cannot handle the pressure from the start, we could have run into trouble.
“I want to salute our players for coping with the pressure well.
“Everything was possible tonight. It could have been 3-0 or 3-2 and it depended on the performance of the players on court.
“Malaysia tried their best but I think we were better overall. It's just that we handled the situation better.”
It will still be a dream final for badminton fans with China going up against Indonesia tomorrow.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 4:47 PM.
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