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China beats South Korea to reach Sudirman Cup final
Updated 21:03, 02-Oct-2021
CGTN
Wang Yilyu (L) and Huang Dongping of China celebrate the victory in the Sudirman Cup semifinal mixed doubles match against Seo Seung-jae/Shin Seung-chan of South Korea in Vantaa, Finland, October 2, 2021. /CFP

Wang Yilyu (L) and Huang Dongping of China celebrate the victory in the Sudirman Cup semifinal mixed doubles match against Seo Seung-jae/Shin Seung-chan of South Korea in Vantaa, Finland, October 2, 2021. /CFP

China defeated South Korea 3-0 in the Sudirman Cup semifinal on Saturday, reaching the event's final for the 14th straight time since 1995 and chasing the 12th title of the team.

World's No. 2 mixed doubles pair Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping appeared on behalf of China in the first match against Seo Seung-jae/Shin Seung-chan.

The Korean pair was newly made so they don't have a world ranking yet. Neither did they cause much trouble for Wang/Huang. It only took the Chinese pair 44 minutes to win the mixed doubles match 2-0, putting their country in the leading position 1-0.

Shi Yuqi of China competes in the Sudirman Cup semifinal men's singles match against Heo Kwang-hee of South Korea in Vantaa, October 2, 2021. /CFP

Shi Yuqi of China competes in the Sudirman Cup semifinal men's singles match against Heo Kwang-hee of South Korea in Vantaa, October 2, 2021. /CFP

The real test happened in the following men's and women's singles competitions. The second match was between China's Shi Yuqi and South Korea's Heo Kwang-hee. Shi has not been in his best form so far at Sudirman Cup as he lost to Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the group stage and Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the quarterfinal.

Shi seemed to have carried his poor from to the semifinal. Having led 14-9 in the first game, he then made too many mistakes, allowing a 12-3 run by Heo and losing Game 1 21-17. Fortunately, Shi snapped out of it from Game 2 and made dominating performance, winning the following two games 21-9, 21-11. Not only did he shake off the frustration, Shi also placed China on a very advantageous 2-0 lead.

Chen Yufei of China celebrates her victory in the Sudirman Cup semifinal women's doubles match against An Se-young of South Korea in Vantaa, October 2, 2021. /CFP

Chen Yufei of China celebrates her victory in the Sudirman Cup semifinal women's doubles match against An Se-young of South Korea in Vantaa, October 2, 2021. /CFP

Tokyo Olympic women's singles gold medalist Chen Yufei played for China in the third match, facing An Se-young. The two played five times before and Chen won all of them.

However, An gave Chen a head-on blow by winning Game 1 21-14. Her aggressive play-style made Chen realize that the best defense is a good offense. The second game remained close until 13-13. Chen scored five points in a row after that before taking that game 21-15. Having found her way over An, Chen had Game 3 totally under control and won it 21-14 in the end.

The winner between Japan and Malaysia will meet China in the coming final.

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