China downs S. Korea to retain Uber Cup
Novan Iman Santosa and Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Peerless China retained the Uber Cup women's team badminton championship for the fourth consecutive time on Saturday, romping past South Korea 3-1 before a sparse crowd at Bung Karno Indoor Stadium here.
In contrast to the day before when raucous local fans crammed the 10,000-capacity stadium for Indonesia's losing Thomas Cup semifinal against Denmark, only a few hundred spectators showed up to watch the final.
It did nothing to reduce the tension of the tie, with the South Korean women displaying the same tenacity that helped them eke out a win over Denmark in the semifinals.
Their determination to not go meekly was evident from the outset, particularly in the first two closely fought matches, before China moved ahead in show its tactical supremacy.
Its fourth victory in the cup since 1998, it was also China's ninth win in 20 contests since 1957, almost all coming in the past 20 years as it has emerged as the leader in the sport.
Korean Jun Jae-yun provided stiff competition for Gong Ruina in the first match. She swept to a 9-0 lead in the first game as Gong struggled to find her range, either hitting shots long or into the net.
But she quickly regrouped, hitting pinpoint drop shots and smashes that began to hit the mark. She took seven points in a row, before Jun clinched the game.
Jun tried to maintain her form in the second game, but Gong upped the pace. The tactic worked when she pulled ahead and took the game 11-5.
The Korean's early resistance had been overcome, and Gong took care of business to win 11-7 in the third game.
South Korea leveled through Lee Hyo-jung and Hwang Yu-mi, who formed a perfect combination to quell the spirited effort of Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen 15-7, 15-10.
Testifying to the awesome superiority of the Chinese women, this was the first time that China had conceded a match during the competition.
China's second singles player, Zhang Ning, put China back in the lead after by defeating Seo Yoon-hee 11-1, 12-10.
While Zhang had a relatively easy win in the first game, she found it harder going against world no. 27 Seo in the second game.
Seo fought back to stay even in the second game. Square at 10 all, Zhang showed her superior skills and the reason she is ranked second in the world to take three points in a row.
Korea's diminishing hopes rested on their second doubles pairing, but Lee Kyung-won and Lee Yun-hwa had no answer to the dominating play of Gao Ling and Huang Sui.
The Chinese picked apart Lee Kyung-won's game to secure a resounding 15-6, 15-2 win, and the Uber Cup.
China will be hoping for a double victory when its men's team takes on Denmark in the final of the Thomas Cup on Sunday.