China women's team lived up to its reputation as they beat Japan in the Uber Cup final at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Saturday. The 3-1 win over Japan helped badminton powerhouse China to their record 13th title.
Olympics champion li Xuerui set the ball rolling for China with a 21-15, 21-5 demolition of world No 12 Minatsu Mitani. But the Japanese doubles pair of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi had a convincing 21-18, 21-9 win over world No 2 pair of Yixin Bao and Jinhua Tang to erase one match deficit.Defending champion China regained the lead after their reigning world champion Shixian Wang, who was in supreme form, routed world No 13 Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi 21-16, 21-12.
Trailing 1-2, the onus was on world No 5 pair of Reika Kakiiwa-Miyuki Maeda to win the next match and keep the game alive. They, however, lost the game 21-13, 21-6 against Yunlie Zhao-Xiaoli Wang.The win triggered a wild celebration among the China contingent, who on Friday had to go through a lot of pain after witnessing their much-vaunted men's team settling down for a bronze following a 0-3 thrashing at the hands of Japan.
Japan, who on Friday defeated India in the semifinal, won their second Uber Cup silver medal. Japan chief coach Park Joo-Bong rued the fact that his wards got less recovery time as compared to the China team.
Thomas cup: Malaysia vs Japan in final
World No 1 lee Chong Wei-led Malaysia will take on Japan in the Thomas Cup final on Sunday.Malaysia defeated Indonesia in the semi-final while Japan shocked the mighty China in the last four battles to enter the final for the first time.A win for Malaysia would be a sweet gift for Chong Wei, who is yet to pocket a gold medal in any world championships event. Individually, Chong Wei has always come second to Chinese great lin Dan in two Olympics and two World Championships. The 31-years-old would come across world No 4 Kenichi Tago, who is high on confidence after getting the better of world No 2 Chen long of China.
