China's Lin Dan plays a shot during his singles badminton match against South Korea's Shon Seung Mo at the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup World Team Badminton Championships in Glasgow, Scotland June 16, 2007. |
GLASGOW - China raced into the final of the Sudirman Cup on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Asian rivals South Korea.
In their quest1 for a sixth title from 10 stagings of the event, the Chinese will now meet England or Indonesia who were contesting their semi-final later on Saturday.
China were set on their way by top mixed doubles pair Zheng Bo and Gao Ling who upped their game at decisive2 moments to beat Han Sang-hoon and Lee Hyo-jung 21-17 22-20.
"We predicted that we would win 3-0, but we were also prepared for the difficult matches that may have come," China coach Li Yongbo said. "We were pleased with the mixed doubles, especially Zheng Bo, who performed great under real pressure, and I'm very happy with the performance of Zhang Ning."
Olympic women's singles champion Zhang Ning made it 2-0 with a 21-14 21-17 victory over world-ranked number 15 Hwang Hye-youn.
World men's champion Lin Dan completed the rout3 with a 21-11 18-21 21-14 success over Shon Seung-mo, world number 83.
China won the biennial4 tournament for a fifth time in Beijing in 2005 when they beat Indonesia in the final.
A total of 48 nations, split5 into six divisions, have been taking part in this week's Sudirman Cup at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre.
"We might think about not playing Lin Dan as he is not showing his best side," Lin said. "Everyone has an equal chance on this team and if he's not showing his best form he can be dropped."
South Korea coach Kim Jong-soo was happy with finishing third and said his team is rebuilding after several players retired6 following the 2004 Olympics.
"Third place for us was a really good achievement because our oldest player is only 27 and our youngest is 19," he said. "For China, most of the players they had at the 2004 Olympics are still playing right now and maybe that is the difference between the two of us."
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