China beats Korea to reach Thomas Cup final

By Primastuti Handayani

KUALA LUMPUR (JP): China moved closer to grabbing the Thomas Cup after dashing South Korea's hopes 3-1 in the semifinals on Thursday at the Putra Indoor Stadium.

China, aiming to win the trophy for the fifth time, will meet the winner of Friday's semis between Indonesia and Denmark in Sunday's final.

Korean first singles Lee Hyun-il -- expected to perform a replay of his supreme performance when he defeated 1996 Olympic Games champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen in the group round-robin -- failed to crush 2000 All England winner Xia Xuanze.

Controlling the match since the beginning, Lee failed to perform his best as Xia, number seven in the world, quickened the rhythm to earn point by point.

World number 43 Lee managed to lead 4-2 before Xia grabbed five more points to take over the lead. With two more points, Lee exerted himself with his netting and lobs but Xia's sharp smashes were too difficult for the 20-year-old Korean to return and he bowed out 6-15.

In the second game, Xia definitely controlled the match by leading 7-1. Lee managed to earn two points but Xia was able to add two more to keep on leading 9-3.

Xia, who rarely made mistakes, allowed Lee to earn two more points before finally concluding the match 15-5.

In the doubles, Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon proved their worth as the world number two by taming world number 11 Chen Qiqiu and Yu Jinhao 15-11, 5-15, 15-9 in 82 minutes.

Kim and Ha got off to a shaky start, playing under pressure to help their country reach the Thomas Cup finals for the first time, being downed 3-7. But they managed to take the lead to a game point 14-7. In one service over, the Chinese pair earned four more points to follow 11-14, but Kim's backhand smash concluded the first game 15-11 for the Koreans.

In the second game, both Kim and Ha made many unforced errors, giving chances to Chen and Yu to take control before they finally bowed out 5-15.

After a five-minute break, Ha and Kim managed to overcome the pressure and played more relaxed and tactical. With a very close match since the beginning, the Koreans were able to narrowly lead 10-9 before Chen spoiled his chance to earn more points and allowed the world champion to win 15-9.

Chinese second singles Ji Xinpeng, 22, earned another point for his country after defeating Ahn Jae-chang, world number 59, 15-12, 15-10.

World number three Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung failed to overcome Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun in their very tough second doubles match and they bowed out 15-9, 12-15, 15-9.

In the decider, Lee and Yoo got off to a shaky start at 1-9 before trailing 3-9. However, the Chinese managed to earn two more points to lead 11-3 but the Koreans managed to narrow the margin with 11-7.

Emotionally both Zhangs managed to collect one more point before the Koreans, playing in a very tense situation, got two more points. But the Chinese world number 17 tamed the Korean Open champion 15-9.

About 7,000 spectators watched in the 15,000-seat capacity stadium -- in which about 500 of them were students of the Bukit Jalil sports school wearing red and blue shirts to take sides on China and Korea respectively.