Favorite China score easy victories in opening day of Thomas and Uber Cups

The Associated Press ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 05/11/2008 7:37 PM  |  Sports

China's men and women teams scored easy victories Sunday at the Thomas and Uber Cups  badminton championships, on an opening day in which favorites all won
comfortably.

China's men's team, chasing a third straight Thomas Cup, swept Nigeria 5-0.

Playing at Jakarta's Senayan Sports Palace, the world's top men singles player Lin Dan beat Nigeria's Greg Orobosa Okuonghea 21-6, 21-11 while third-ranked Bao Chunlai outclassed Akeem Ogunseye 21-9, 21-3.

The remaining singles match and both doubles were all won in straight-games by the No. 1-seeded China.

In other men's results Sunday, the only realistic non-Asian title contender Denmark signaled its threat to China's title ambitions with a 5-0 demolition of New Zealand and Malaysia swept England 5-0 as all the top teams made strong starts. In the only closely contested tie, Thailand won the final two matches to beat Germany 3-2.

China's women's team has won five straight Uber Cups and made the final 12 times in succession, and put itself on course for another final with a 5-0 win over the United States.

The world's No. 1 Xie Xingfang outpointed Eva Lee 21-10, 21-7 to lead China to another one-sided victory, in which all matches were decided in straight games.

Fourth-seeded Malaysia blanked New Zealand 5-0, while South Korea - five times runner-up to China - recorded a 5-0 sweep over South Africa. (***)

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