China reign supreme, regain Thomas Cup in style

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Europe

02:11

A superb all-round performance by China saw the badminton powerhouse overpowering Japan 3-1 to regain the Thomas Cup after a six-year wait in Bangkok on Sunday.

Quite significantly, the Chinese side accomplished the silverware-winning act without having their iconic singles player Lin Dan play in any of the ties in the knockout stage. China’s previous trophy triumph came in 2012 as they claimed their 5th successive title.

Chasing their 10th title at the mega event, the Chinese were up against the nation that ended their reign in 2014.

Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China compete against Yuta Watanabe and Keigo Sonoda of Japan during the Thomas Cup Final. /VCG Photo

The first match saw China's top player and Olympic champion Chen Long going down against Japanese shuttler Kento Momota, who won in their previous meeting as well.

The under-pressure Chinese doubles duo of Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan leveled the score 1-1 after getting the better of their rival pair of Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko 21-10, 21-18 in just 39 minutes.

It was Shi Yuqi's turn to script a morale-boosting win against Kenta Nishimoto in straight games 21-12, 21-17. With China leading 2-1, Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen edged past Yuta Watanabe and Keigo Sonoda 17-21, 21-19 after bouncing back from a game down.

Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan of China kiss the Thomas trophy. /VCG Photo

The magnificent 3-1 win was more than enough for China to bag the Thomas Cup for the tenth time, which also means a 20th world championship title for veteran Lin Dan.

China’s singles coach Xia Xuanze said, “I am quite happy and excited. We won the Thomas Cup in 2012 and lost it in 2014 and 2016, but we finally won it this year. It was really exciting for all our Chinese fans.”

As his side won both their doubles matches in the final, Chinese doubles coach Zhang Jun mentioned, “We did not win the last two Thomas Cups, so Xia and I are happy to get this one. We've had a lot of pressure since taking over the team.”

“Our players really did well, especially in the final. Japan also played really well in the final, and their team showed great ability, and provided high level matches for the audience. Their second doubles pair were new partners, and they played much better than we expected,” Zhang added.

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