The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : China keeps Uber Cup

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 17, 2004

Sport

Sport - Badminton

China keeps Uber Cup

JAKARTA, MAY 15. Defending champion and top seed China powered past South Korea 3-1 on Saturday to retain the women's Uber Cup badminton team championship for the four consecutive time.

``Of course we are very happy, because finally we were able to defend the Uber Cup,'' said Chinese manager Lee Yong Bo.

The victory point for China, which fielded all the world's top women shuttlers, came from No. 2 pair of Gao Ling and Huang Sui, who easily crushed Koreans Lee Kyung-Won and Lee Yun-Hwa 15-6, 15-2 in the fourth match.

After trailing 2-0 in the first set, Ling and Sui fought back and took five points in a row, allowing the Koreans to take one before collecting two other points for a 7-3 lead. The Koreans tried to catch up but only managed to collect one point. Ling and Sui then won six consecutive points and ended the set with two in a row after allowing two more points for the Koreans.

Also in the last set, the Chinese pair allowed the opponents to take the first points before surging to a 12-1 lead. The Koreans did not give up, but Ling and Sui were unbeatable. Showing their superb play, the Chinese pair just allowed one point to the Koreans before collecting three points in a row to end the match with an unreturned hard smash.

Playing in front of more than 1,000 spectators at Jakarta's Bung Karno Senayan Sports Palace, World No. 1 Gong Ruina opened the final contest with a tough fight when she came from one-set down to defeat last year's Asian champion Jun Jae-Youn of South Korea 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, widening her 5-0 record against the 7th ranked Jun.

The Korean duo of Lee Hyo-Jung and Hwang Yu-Mi levelled the score by upsetting the world's top pair of Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen with a straight-set win in the second match, before second-ranked Zhang Ning outclassed 27th-ranked Korean Seo Yoon-Hee 11-1, 13-10 to give China a 2-1 lead.

The results: Uber Cup (final):

China beat Korea 3-1 (Gong Ruina bt Jun Jae-Youn 7-11, 11-5, 11-7; Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen lost to Lee Hyo-Jung/Hwang Yu-Mi 15-7, 15-10; Zhang Ning bt Seo Yoon-Hee 11-1, 13-10; Gao Ling/Huang Sui bt Lee Kyung-Won/Lee Yun-Hwa 15-6, 15-2. — AP

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