China sweeps Japan to take Sudirman Cup
CHINA won its sixth consecutive Sudirman Cup yesterday, defeating Japan, which had reached the badminton tournament’s finals for the first time.
Thousands welcomed host China with horns and drums as team members entered and huddled to chants of “go China, go”, with jeers heard when the Japanese team arrived on the court in Dongguan, southern Guangdong Province.
China swept Japan 3-0 in a series of tightly contested matches during the final day of the event, with superstar Lin Dan jumping in the air and pumping his fist after winning his men’s single match against Takuma Ueda 21-15, 21-13.
“It (the win) means a lot to me because I was in the men’s singles for the finals and made the contribution for our team’s win,” Lin told reporters after receiving his gold medal.
But the 31-year-old also said that the Japanese team would be a strong opponent for China in the upcoming Thomas Cup in 2016.
“I never thought that Japan’s victory last year in the Thomas Cup was an accident because we’ve seen a lot of strong opponents from Japan, Denmark and Korea,” he said. “Next year is also the Olympics so we need to have good performance in the Thomas and Uber Cup.”
China’s Li Xuerui, the top seeded women’s singles player, exchanged leads with Akane Yamaguchi in the first game but eventually won 23-21, 21-14.
“Because it’s a big contest, I felt pressure. The reason why the score was so close in the first game was because I made a few mistakes,” Li told reporters after the game.
“She’s improved very quickly,” Li said of the 17-year-old Yamaguchi, whom she has played three times in total.
Japan’s coach Park Joo-bong said although China remains a very strong team, his players are also getting better.
“Today we lost 3-0 because China is a strong team, they have always been a very strong team. In the last two or three years, our players are getting a bit closer,” Park, who used to play for South Korea, told reporters.
China’s Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan also contributed to the nation’s tenth win at the Sudirman Cup, which was first held in 1989, winning 21-17, 20-22, 21-17 in a tight men’s doubles against Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa.
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