China advance to Sudirman Cup knockout stage

Team China secured early passage to the Sudirman Cup knockout stages after a dominant 5-0 win against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) in Group A on Monday.

In the opening mixed doubles match, the World No. 2 pairing of Huang Dongping and Feng Yanzhe needed just 38 minutes to beat Tang Chun Man and Ng Tsz Yau 21-8, 21-8 to give China a 1-0 edge.

Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Chen Yufei then got past Lo Sin Yan and quickly won the first frame 21-8. The World No. 7 continued her momentum in the second, closing out a 21-8, 21-4 victory to double the hosts' lead.

The men's singles game saw World No. 1 Shi Yuqi take on Lee Cheuk Yiu. Shi started strongly with a 7-point run without reply. But Lee fought back after Shi claimed the opener 21-12. The world number 21 earned Hong Kong SAR's only game of the entire contest when he pulled one back with a 22-20 win in the second.

Prior to this match, Shi had a narrow 6-5 head-to-head edge from the pair's 11 previous encounters. After a long exchange, Shi extended his advantage to 15-11 in the decider when Lee returned one into the net.

Shi had to dig deep and needed more than an hour to seal the victory 21-12, 20-22, 21-12 and give China an unassailable 3-0 lead.

From there it was all a dead rubber. Tan Ning and Liu Shengshu beat Lui Lok Lok and Tsang Hiu Yan 21-10, 21-8 to make it 4-0.

Then in a tight men's doubles match, Wang Chang and Liang Weikeng defeated Hung Kuei Chun and Lui Chun Wai 21-18, 21-18 to seal the 5-0 victory.

China will next face Thailand to determine the top spot in the group, while Hong Kong SAR will face Algeria.