China drops point in easing past Korea in Uber semifinals

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 05/15/2008 8:09 PM  |  Sports

China for the 12th consecutive time made the final of the Uber Cup women's badminton team competition, with a 3-1 win over South Korea on Thursday at the Bung Karno Sports Hall in Jakarta.

Overall, the Chinese players, all with higher world rankings than their Korean opponents, had little trouble in moving a step closer to their 11th Uber Cup title.

Xie Xingfang put on a dominant performance over Hwang Hye-youn to give China an opening point over Korea with a 21-9, 21-19 win.

Korea evened the score through their doubles pair Kyung-won and Hyo-jung, who came from a game down to seal a 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 victory over Zhang Jiewen and Yang Yawei.

Hyo-jung looked indecisive on the attack but she offset her cautious approach with good placement of the shuttlecock, which proved successful in earning the pair points.

After losing the first game, the Koreans took charge right from the start of the second game with the lanky Hyo-jung marshaling the defense and Kyung-won taking charge up front with
smashes and neat strokes over the net.

At 12-10, Kyung-won looked to suffer from pain in her upper arm. She took a short break before returning to the court.

Kyung-won did not seem to show any effects of the pain. Her quick smashes earned the pair two consecutive points to win the game and force the match into a third game.

The Chinese pair stepped up their performance in the third game, which turned into a closely fought encounter. But an error by Zhang swung the game into Korean control. Once in the lead,
the Koreans, cheered on by a small but noisy group of supporters in the stands, never looked back.

China retook the lead through single's player Lu Lan. The world No. 2 proved too strong for Jang Soo-young, winning 21-9, 21-12 in 30 minutes.

Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili put the issue beyond doubt by winning the fourth tie against Kim Min-jung and Ha Jung-eun to deny the Koreans a place in the final, which they haven't reached since 2004.

During the match, the Chinese pair could not hide their fire. At the end of a long rally that made the score 14-5 for the Chinese in the second game, Zhang Yawen raised her hands in
celebration.

They eked out the opening game 21-19, but the Chinese had an easier task in the second game, winning 21-8. (mfd/ind/**)

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