Chinese juggernaut rolls on
VANTAA: China added another golden chapter to their Sudirman Cup success story, claiming their 12th crown after beating Japan 3-1 in the final in Finland on Sunday.
Japan, seeking to overturn the result of the last edition where they were blown away 3-0 by China, had to be content yet again with finishing second best in the mixed team world championship.
China coach Zhang Jun later talked of trust in the young members of the team, in their ability to stand their ground on the big occasion.
“After the Olympics, we could motivate the team once again,” said Zhang.
“We lacked some of our best men’s doubles players for the Sudirman Cup, and we had some difficulties against Thailand and Denmark [in the previous rounds], but we decided to use our young players and we trusted their ability, and they did really well today.”
China went with He Jiting and Zhou Haodong in the men’s doubles.
The gamble worked as they defeated Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 21-17, 14-21, 21-16.
Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi then beat Olympic champion Chen Yufei 21-19, 21-16.
In the men’s singles match, Shi Yuqi defeated world No.1 Kento Momota 21-13, 8-21, 21-12 to give China a
2-1 lead.
Shi, celebrating his finest moment after his comeback from the injury he sustained in July 2019, promised to get better than he was before injury.
“I let the second game go to recover my breath,” said Shi. “I had to save all my energy for the third game. I’m at 90 percent of my best. It’s a great thing to win, but my goal is not to return to my previous level — I’m going to get to 120
per cent of that!”
Momota denied that tiredness had played a role in his listless play in the third game. “I was overwhelmed by my opponent’s attacking ability, that’s why I lost. I wasn’t that tired, but I couldn’t find a way to win,” he said.
China finished off the Japanese when Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan defeated Mayu Matsumoto and Misake Matsutomo 21-17, 21-16.