What a feeling!: An overjoyed Chen Yufei after beating South Korea’s An Se-young to deliver the winning point in the Sudirman Cup final. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: When singles shuttler Chen Yufei delivered the winning point against South Korea, the entire Chinese team rushed onto the court to dance in a circle.
It was their 13th Sudirman Cup title but an emotional one as it was their first badminton tournament at home since 2020.
And they deserved their hard-fought 3-0 win in Suzhou, China, yesterday. The team came close to collapsing against Japan before prevailing 3-2 in the semi-finals on Saturday but yesterday, their players were a class above.
Reigning Olympics champion Yufei, spurred on by her home fans, finally scored her first win against An Se-young this year by pulling off a 21-16, 22-20 win in 57 minutes. She had lost to the Korean in the Malaysian Open (January), All-England (March) and Asian Championships (April).
Earlier in the mixed doubles, China’s world No. 1 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong, who have never lost to world No. 5 Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung in eight meetings, extended their winning streak after triumphing 18-21, 22-20, 21-8 in 62 minutes.
Seung-jae-Yu-jung had an opportunity to get their first win over the Chinese pair when they won the first game and were leading 19-16 in the second but could not hold on to their advantage.
The win in the opening match set the tone for the next one as world No. 10 Shi Yuqi silenced world No. 213th Lee Yun-gyu 21-13, 21-17 to double the advantage for his country before Yufei went on to accomplish the task to underline China’s supremacy in the world mixed team event.
It was their third title in a row after also winning in 2019 in Nanning and 2021 in Vantaa, Finland.
South Korea had been the last team to beat China in the final in 2017 in Gold Coast, Australia, but could not repeat their feat this time.
RESULTS
China bt South Korea 3-0 (Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong bt Seo Seung-jae 18-21, 22-20, 21-8; Shi Yuqi bt Lee Yun-gyu 21-13, 21-17; Chen Yufei bt An Se-young 21-16, 22-20).
