China sweep Taiwan in Uber Cup, as Thailand semi-final repeat – and chance for revenge – awaits

Thailand await China in both the Thomas and Uber Cup in Denmark, presenting the Chinese women’s badminton team with a chance for revenge in a repeat of their 2018 semi-final. Holders China were knocked out by hosts Thailand in the last four of the event three years ago, the last time that the men’s and women’s team showpieces were played because of the Covid-19 pandemic. After beating Taiwan 3-0 in this year’s quarter-finals, China now have a chance to put the 2018 tournament behind them. Chen Yufei got the ball rolling for China with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) win over Pai Yu-po but admitted she started slowly after not playing for a few days and not having played Pai before. “Instead of relief I think I am more happy to win this point for my team,” Chen said, “But there will definitely be more difficulties and more challenges to come.” The doubles pairing of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan beat Hsu-Ya Ching and Hu Ling-fang, with the Chinese duo winning 2-1 (21-10, 18-21, 21-14). China romp into Thomas and Uber Cup quarter-finals “We were not at our best today but we fought until the end,” Chen said. “We were very happy for this win. For us it’s very important to win every single one because our goal is to win the Uber Cup.” Chen and Jia left China one win away from a whitewash, which was duly secured by He Bingjiao over Hung Yi-ting with the mainland shuttler winning 2-0 (21-14,21-9). He made light work of her win and when asked if she was in a rush, she looked at her watch and laughed, before praising her teammates. “I think we’ve done very well, I am really proud of my teammates, especially the doubles. They performed very well under pressure,” she said. China have won the Uber Cup a record 14 times but missed out in 2018 when it was won by Japan. The holders play South Korea in the other semi-final. Thailand also stand in the way of China’s men in the Thomas Cup as the holders look to make up another title on Indonesia’s record in the men’s championship. Reigning men’s champions China face Thailand in the Thomas Cup on Friday morning (local time) after finishing their group stage on Thursday by beating India. China ran out 4-1 winners, putting a slight blemish on their 100 per cent record as they dropped the first rubber of the tournament in Aarhus. It started off well as Shi Yuqi won his singles meeting with Srikanth Kidambi 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) but India levelled in the doubles. #Badminton #ThomasUberCups The scoreline read 4-1 in favour of China at the end but there were some epic battles during this Thomas Cup group stage tie against India. Highlights via BWFpic.twitter.com/NUrZLFngQs — The Field (@thefield_in) October 14, 2021 Shi had been cheering on the team from the stands in the previous two group matches before returning to action against the former world No 1 Kidambi. “These were tough games, especially my opponent as he’s been ranked No 1 for a while now. I take him very seriously and did my best in the game,” he said. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty downed China’s He Jiting and Zhou Haodong 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) to sow doubt as to who might top the group. Chen thanks China teammates after losing her Sudirman Cup final match China won the next rubber but Lu Guangzu had to come from behind to beat Sameer Verma 2-1 (14-21, 21-9, 24-22) before normal service was resumed in the doubles. “It’s been a really tough game today, especially on the third game as I was behind most of the time – like when it was 17-20 for my opponent. I didn’t think that much, I just kept going and kept going and made the comeback so I’m really happy,” an exhausted Lu said. Lu said he made mistakes at 13-13 in the first game and then again at the same score in the final game but used his mental strength to ensure the comeback. Here is the draw for the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas Cup quarterfinals. What do you think #ThomasUberCups #Aarhus2020 #RaiseARacket pic.twitter.com/FcRnAsD8zp — BWF (@bwfmedia) October 14, 2021 Liu Cheng and Wang Yilyu won 2-0 (26-24, 21-19) over MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, while Li Shifeng beat Kiran George 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) to wrap up the group stage. India finished second and will face Denmark. China have won the Thomas Cup 10 times, three behind Indonesia’s record. Indonesia join the holders in the quarters after they topped the “group of death” ahead of Thailand, while Taiwan and Algeria missed out in Aarhus. Denmark stepped in to host the delayed 2020 event, which was originally set to take place in China.

China sweep Taiwan in Uber Cup, as Thailand semi-final repeat – and chance for revenge – awaits

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Chinese women’s reward for 3-0 victory is rematch of 2018 semi when hosts beat holders Men also face Thais in Thomas Cup quarters after 4-1 win over India to wrap up group stage

Chinese women’s reward for 3-0 victory is rematch of 2018 semi when hosts beat holders

Men also face Thais in Thomas Cup quarters after 4-1 win over India to wrap up group stage