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China beat Japan to win 10th Thomas Cup title
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Chinese men's team poses with their winning trophy at the end of the Thomas Cup badminton tournament in Bangkok on Sunday. (AFP/Lillian Suwanrumpha)
C
hina emerged as the winner of the 2018 Thomas Cup and brought home the trophy for the 10th time after defeating 2014 champions Japan 3-1 in Bangkok on Sunday.
China started the day with a loss as 2016 Olympic gold medalist Chen Long was stunned by 2015 World Championship bronze medalist Kento Momota in a tight straight match at the IMPACT Arena.
Momota, the former world number two before the Japan Badminton Association handed him with a two-year ban because of a gambling scandal, won the first game 21-19. Chen tried to stop Momota in the second game, but the Japanese shuttler maintained the upper-hand. Momota gave hope to his team, closing the match 21-18.
China equalized as doubles pair Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan outclassed Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko in another straight match 21-10 and 21-18.
Shi Yuqi handed his team a 2-1 lead after beating Nishimoto 21-12 and 21-17 in 45 minutes.
In the decisive fourth match, Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen, who crushed Team Indonesia’s hopes in the semifinal after beating Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, delivered another laudable performance as they defeated Keigo Sonoda and Yuta Watanabe 17-21, 21-19 and 22-20 to hand his team the trophy.
