Chen Yufei of China competes in women's singles match against Australia's Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen (not pictured) during first day of the Thomas & Uber Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, May 8, 2022. /CFP
Fifteen-time champions, the Chinese women's badminton team dominated Australia 5-0 on Sunday to begin their quest to defend their Uber Cup title.
Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Chen Yufei defeated world No. 72 Chen Hsuan-yu, 21-19, 21-10 in the singles opener.
China didn't start their world No. 1 duo Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan in the doubles, but Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu outplayed Joyce Chong and Angela Yu 21-12, 21-12, grabbing the second win to give China a 2-0 lead.
He Bingjiao of China competes in women's single match against Australia's Louisa Ma (not pictured) during first day of the Thomas & Uber Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, May 8, 2022. /CFP
In the second singles match, He Bingjiao crushed Louisa Ma 21-6, 21-6 in only 20 minutes to secure victory for China.
In the two remaining matches, Du Yue and Li Wenmei defeated Kaitlyn Ea and Gronya Somerville 21-11, 21-5, in doubles while Zhang Yiman dominated Tiffany Ho 21-6, 21-9 in singles.
The Chinese women's badminton team rallied past Japan 3-1 to claim their 15th Uber Cup last year. The defending champions will next face their second opponent in Group D, Spain, who lost to Chinese Taipei 4-1 in their opening tie.
(With input from Xinhua)