PETALING JAYA: Women's singles sensation An Se-young added another feather in her cap by leading South Korea to a maiden Asia Team Championships title.
World No. 1 Se-young gave South Korea a strong start against an under-strength China squad, crushing world No. 38 Han Qianxi 21-7, 21-14 in 39 minutes at the Qingdao Conson Gymnasium on Sunday (Feb 8).
Despite electing not to include their top players such as world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi and world No. 3 Chen Yufei in the singles and world No. 1 doubles duo Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning, China put up strong resistance in the first doubles and second singles.
South Korea's scratch pair Baek Ha-na-Kim Hye-jeong had to battle hard to win the first game 24-22 against world No. 4 Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian before claiming the second 21-8 in a match lasting 70 minutes.
In the second singles, world No. 17 Kim Ga-eun also had to dig deep against world No. 127 Xu Wenjing before prevailing 19-21, 21-10, 21-17 in 68 minutes to give South Korea the winning point.
South Korea ended their wait for the title since the tournament's inception in 2016 and made amends after finishing runners-up twice in 2020 and 2022 to Japan and Indonesia respectively.
The triumph also signalled their intent to reclaim their Uber Cup Finals crown which they last won in the 2022 edition in Bangkok.
The Uber Cup Finals this year will be held from April 24-May 3 in Horsens, Denmark.
China beat Indonesia to capture the title in the last edition in 2024 in Chengdu.
RESULTS
Final
Women's team: South Korea bt China (An Se-young bt Han Qianxi 21-7, 21-14; Baek Ha-na-Kim Hye-jeong bt Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian 24-22, 21-8; Kim Ga-eun bt Xu Wenjing 19-21, 21-10, 21-17).
Semi-finals
Men's team: China bt South Korea 3-2 (Wang Zhengxing lost to Yoo Tae-bin 19-21, 21-16, 13-21; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu lost to Kim Won-ho-Jin Yong 15-21, 17-21; Hu Zhean bt Choi Ji-hoon 21-13, 21-19; Chen Junting-Liu Junrong bt Song Hyun-cho-Ki Dong-ju 21-15, 21-14; Dong Tianyao bt Cho Hyeon-woo 21-6, 21-19), Japan bt Indonesia 3-1 (Kenta Nishimoto lost to Moh Zaki Ubaidillah 20-22, 16-21; Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi bt Rian Ardianto-Leo Rolly 21-16, 21-17; Yushi Tanaka bt Prahdiska Bagas 21-11, 21-15; Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami bt Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin 21-17, 21-15).
