GLASGOW: Record five-time winner China cruised into the final of the Sudirman Cup World team championship with a 3-0 victory over South Korea in Saturday's semifinals.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the favourite as Chinese coach Lin Yongbo threatened to drop Lin Dan from the final after another relatively poor performance from the World champion.

Lin had suffered a shock defeat from Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in the group stages and South Korea's Shon Hye Youn, who has tumbled to No. 83 in the world after a run of injuries, raised hopes of pulling off another surprise when he took the second game.

Close contest

The decider was close in the early stages, but Lin held his composure to claim the win 21-11, 18-21, 21-14 and clinch China's 3-0 win and the passage into the final.

In the opening mixed doubles rubber, China's vastly experienced Gao Ling guided her new young partner, Zheng Bo, to a 21-17, 22-20 victory over Han Sang Hoon and Lee Hyo Jung.

Olympic champion Zhang Ning then added the woman's singles with an easy 21-14, 21-17 win over Hwang Hye Youn to leave the stage for Lin to complete the victory.

Valiant effort

Meanwhile, the Indian shuttlers fought hard but failed to surpass the Division 3 promotional hurdle against France as they went down 3-0 in the play-off match.

Despite some of their key players missing the tournament, India did a commendable job by topping Group B which squared it up against Group A topper France to qualify for Division 2 of the World team badminton championship.

The mixed doubles pair of V. Diju and Aparna Balan won the first game against World No. 21 combination of Stoyanov Svetoslav and Elodie Eymard but finally went down 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in a close encounter that lasted around 45 minutes.

Saina Nehwal, ranked 39, up against World No. 6 Pi Hongyan in the women's singles event, lost 21-16, 15-21, 21-9.

In men's singles, Anup Sridhar rekindled some hope when he took the first game against Erwin Kehlhoffner but lost 11-21, 21-11, 21-17.

The results:

Semifinals: China 3 beat South Korea 0 (Lin Dan bt Shon Seung-mo 21-11, 18-21, 21-14; Zhang Ning bt Hwang Hye-youn 21-14, 21-17; Zheng Bo & Gao Ling bt Han Sang-hoon & Hyo Jung-lee 21-17, 22-20.

Division 3 Play-off: France 3 bt India 0 (Stoyanov Svetoslav & Elodie Eymard bt V. Diju & Aparna Balan 19-21, 21-19, 21-17; Pi Hongyan bt Saina Nehwal 21-16, 15-21, 21-9; Erwin Kehlhoffner bt Anup Sridhar 11-21, 21-11, 21-17). — PTI

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