China sweep Japan to top group at Sudirman Cup
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China made a clean sweep on their way to defend the fourth straight Sudirman Cup title on Tuesday as the badminton powerhouse beat Japan 5-0 to top Group A and qualify for the quarterfinals.
In Group C, Chinese Taipei demolished Thailand's hope to reach top eight through hard-fought 3-2 victory, and also secured a quarterfinal berth along with India, who edged out Thailand 3-2 on Monday.
Despite world No. 1 Wang Shixian conceded China's first set at the opener to Germany's world No. 10 Juliane Schenk 21-19, 21-16, Wang Xin, world No. 3, took to the court in women's singles.
The 25-year-old withstood the pressure, breezing past Japanese Sayaka Sato 21-12, 21-11 after Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng sailed past Shoji Sato/Naoki Kawamae 21-15, 21-14.
"Wang Shixian's loss leaves this match a bit pressure," said Wang. "But I managed to overcome the pressure. Hopefully I could be instrumental for China on the way to the champions."
"Super Dan" Lin Dan fought through unexpected resistance from world No. 16 Sho Sasaki in a close 22-20, 21-19 triumph and sealed the competition for China at the same time.
Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli and Xu Chen/Ma Jin settled the score for 5- 0.
"Japan is a strong team, but the loss of Wang in the opener warned us that we have to take the match more seriously. Our shuttlers need to be more concentrated on the court comparing with last match," said Li Yongbo, head coach of Chinese team.
Women's doubles world No. 2 Cheng Wenhsing/Chien Yuchin became the heros in Chinese Taipei's second-consecutive win at the championships as the pair eased past Saralee Thoungthongkam/ Kunchala Voravichitchaikul in the decisive set following a 2-2 tie.
Chinese Taipei and India grasped the final two berths of quarterfinals along with South Korea, Denmark, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan, all of whom had booked the berths one day earlier.
