Sixth straight win for China

Musthofid ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 05/18/2008 10:49 AM  |  Headlines

GOLDEN CIRCLE: Chinese shuttler Lu Lan (right) celebrates with her teammates Saturday after beating the host team 3-0 in the Uber Cup final at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium, Central Jakarta. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

China has defended the Uber Cup in its sixth consecutive win after beating Indonesia 3-0 in the Saturday final at Bung Karno Sports Hall, Jakarta.

After a some struggling in the early rounds, in which China lost points to The Netherlands and South Korea, China showed their commanding performance to race into an unchallenged victory.

At the end of the third rubber, the Chinese team members broke onto the court, waving the Chinese flag to celebrate, leaving the home team and fans in silence.

Despite the Indonesian's defeat, the players remained in high spirits, knowing that their mission to the finals had surprised fans expectations after an unprecedented failure in the qualifying stage in 2006.

The disappointment was seen on faces in the audience, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but the atmosphere inside the stadium was not as gloomy as it was when the Indonesian men's team was upset by South Korea in the Thomas Cup semifinal on Friday.

"I'm proud of the players. They have great spirits. They played without burden because they had nothing to lose," team manager Susi Susanti said.

The Indonesian players, who had dispatched more rated teams (including Japan and The Netherlands in the group matches, Hong Kong in quarterfinals and Germany in semifinals) lined up with officials in the center of the stadium in search of solace.

The die-hard fans looked as though they were attempting to shake off the loss by applauding the team, which had become the second fiddle to the Chinese badminton giants.

Xie Xingfang and Lu Lan, who are ranked as the top two in world rankings, proved a class above their Indonesian opponents in the singles rubbers, each thumping Maria Kristin and Adriyanti Firdasari in two games with a lopsided margin of points.

Xingfang, who had her upper arm strapped, brushed aside Maria, who is only ranked 30th, 21-8, 21-15.

After Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen had to play three games in their 21-15, 18-21, 21-16 win over Lilyana Natsir and Vita Marissa, Lu Lan eased past Adriyanti 21-12, 21-10 to seal the Chinese victory.

Xinfang admitted that she had ignored the pain from her arm injury, but was still able to beat Maria. She said, "I'm stronger than her, so I'm more confident about beating her."

The achievement was gained amidst national mourning back home, after the deadly earthquake jolted the province of Sichuan, taking thousands of lives.

"As a Chinese, I am concerned and I hope that winning the trophy can encourage the Chinese who were affected by the earthquake," Lu Lan said.

China is vying a double with its men's team to play South Korea, which stopped Indonesia in the semifinals, in Sunday's game. China, led by world's No. 1 Lin Dan, marched to the final after nipping Malaysia 3-2.

Chinese team manager Li Yongbo looked forward to celebrating the back-to-back victories.

"I'm very happy with this (Uber Cup) victory, but my joy will be one hundred percent if we can win Thomas Cup tomorrow," Yongbo said. (ind)

Results from the Uber Cup women's team badminton championship final in Jakarta on Saturday:
Maria Kristin (Ina) vs. Xie Xingfang (Chn) 8-21, 15-21
Adriyanti Firdasari (Ina) vs. Lu Lan (Chn) 12-21, 10-20
Lilyana Natsir/Vita Marissa (Ina) vs. Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen (Chn) 15-21, 21-18, 21-16

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