China took home their ninth women's world team badminton trophy
Uber Cup after a convincing 3-1 victory over South Korea in the
final played at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium Saturday evening.
The Chinese team fielded the best line-up -- with world's number
one, two and three in singles and world's number one and two in
doubles -- to win their fifth title in a row.
In the first match of the tie, All England champion Gong Ruina
of China took on Asian champion Jun Jae Youn.
The South Korean quickly led 7-0 without service exchange in the
opening game, but Gong managed to narrow the gap to 7-9.?
However, Jun, who never won over Gong in previous five matches,
sealed the game 11-7 by playing precisely in the net.
Jun again led 4-0 in the second game, but the 23-year-old Gong
coped with the pressures very well and accelerated the rhythm with
many crossing smashes to stop Jun 11-5.
In the deciding game, Gong sharpened her attacks and it was Jun
who was first trailing behind.? Gong finally put China in the
lead after closing the third game 11-7.
Lee Hyo Jung/Hwang Yu Mi put South Korea back in the tie when
they surprisingly made a straight 15-7, 15-10 win over world's top
duo Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen. The victory is the first for the South
Koreans in seven matches against the Chinese, and the only defeat
of 20 overall matches played by the Chinese girls in the
tournament.
China took the lead when second singles Zhang Ning showed her
world-class standard to outplay South Korea's youngster Seo Yoon
Hee 11-1, 13-10.
With the trophy was only one match away, world champion Gao
Ling/Huang Sui played in full speed and gave no chance to their
South Korean opponents Lee Kyung Won/Lee Yun Hwa to play
time-consuming rallies.
Gao/Huang attacked with full confidence and kept the shuttlecock
at the net level when took the first game 15-6.
In the second game, the Chinese pair were facing the trophy laid on
a table behind their opponents and that possibly further motivated
them to increase speed.? Huang raised her hands after her
smash landed on the other side of the net and received a hug from
Gao as they rapidly ended the second game 15-2 to win the
prestigious trophy.
"We should have made a clean sweep against South Korea. But
Zhang Jiewen had injury in her elbow and that's why the first
doubles could not perform their usual play," China's coach Li
Yongbo said.?
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2004)
