China races to Uber Cup final
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 25, 2012
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Wang Yihan of China returns a shot during the semifinals of Uber Cup between China and Thailand. |
China did not drop a game on its way to beating Thailand 3-0 for a place in the Uber Cup final where it will meet defending champion South Korea, which also beat Japan by the same scoreline yesterday.
South Korea's Sung Ji-hyun and Bae Youn-joo won their singles in straight games but the pair of Kim Min-jung and Ha Jung-uen dropped a game before beating Japanese Fuji Mizuki-Kakiwa Reika 21-13, 17-21, 21-14.
China, desperately looking to win back the title from South Korea, was impressive with world No. 1 Wang Yihan and No. 2 Wang Xin facing no problems in winning their singles. World No. 1 pair Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang then combined well to win the doubles in straight games.
After surviving the nail-biting six-hour quarterfinal on Wednesday night, Japan felt it unfair that there was an afternoon semifinal awaiting them right on the next day.
"It's better for us if we can compete in the night or have one day to rest," said Japanese head coach Park Joo Bong. "The tight schedule made it tough for us and South Korea. It's unfair."
Meanwhile, Indonesia attempted to play down concerns for the Olympics after missing out on the Thomas Cup semifinals for the first time.
"We are concerned because it was our first loss to Japan at the Thomas Cup and our first quarterfinal loss at the tournament too," Indonesian doubles coordinator Christian Hadinata said. "We'll continue practising for the Olympics. Our goal is to keep up our tradition of winning at least one gold medal," he said.
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