Mighty China retain Sudirman Cup in emphatic style

GUANGZHOU: China captured the Sudirman Cup title for the seventh time in superb style to underline their superiority in the world mixed team championships here yesterday.

The mighty Chinese put up a magnificent performance and took almost three hours to beat a gritty South Korea 3-0 in the final. They completed the championships without dropping a single match.

“We’ve got an excellent team,’ said China’s head coach Li Yongbo.

“They worked very hard and I’m proud of them, and I think they fulfilled their potential and maintained the dignity of China by successfully retaining the cup.”

China coach Li Yongbo (left) holds up the sudirman Cup while the players acknowledge their supporters on podium yesterday.

It was their doubles players who showed significant improvement this year.

The scratch combinations of Zheng Bo-Yu Yang got the ball rolling for China yesterday when they battled for 72 minutes to pull the rug from under Beijing Olympics champions Lee Yong-dae-Lee Hyo-jung 18-21, 21-19, 21-16.

Then Olympic and world champion Lin Dan gave the hosts a comfortable 2-0 lead by beating Park Sung-hwan 21-14, 21-18.

“I like playing in my own country,” said Lin Dan. “I played very well but sometimes I hurried too much to win the match.”

The winning point came from All-England champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, who took 61 minutes to overcome Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung 21-14, 17-21, 21-19.

The losing semi-finallists, Malaysia and Indo­nesia, received their bronze medals yesterday.

Final: China bt South Korea 3-0 (Zheng Bo-Yu Yang bt Lee Yong-dae-Lee Hyo-jung 18-21, 21-19, 21-16; Lin Dan bt Park Sung-hwan 21-14, 21-18; Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng bt Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung 21-14, 17-21, 21-19).

Posted by Lucas Liau on 1:37 PM. Filed under China, News, Sudirman Cup . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0