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Sunday May 11, 3:01 PMChina dominant in Thomas and Uber Cup badminton defenceJAKARTA (AFP) - Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang led China to crushing opening day victories in defence of their titles at the Thomas and Uber Cup team championships on Sunday, with Malaysia also chalking an impressive win.World number one Lin barely broke a sweat in beating Nigeria's Greg Orobosa Okuonghea 21-6, 21-11 to lead his team to a 5-0 whitewash. Third-ranked Bao Chunlai was equally dominant, sweeping past Akeem Ogunseye 21-9, 21-3 while world number four Chen Jin demolished Jimkan Bulus 21-7, 21-6. With doubles pairings Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng and He Hanbin and Shen Ye also firing, China look unstoppable. Their women counterpart were on an equal footing in the Uber Cup, beating the United States 5-0 with Lin's girlfriend and world number one Xie whipping Eva Lee 21-10, 21-7. Lu Lan and Zhu Lin also notched lopsided singles wins before doubles hotshots Gao Ling and Zhao Tingting and Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen rubbed salt into American wounds. "I hope both trophies can stay in our country a bit longer," China's head coach Li Yongbo said. China has held the Uber Cup for 10 years and the Thomas Cup for four years. Among the men, Indonesia is seen as their toughest challenger with the host nation facing Thailand first up. The Thais are forced to play twice on Sunday and in their opening match eeked out a 3-2 win over Germany with Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk winning the crucial final rubber against Marcel Reuter 21-14, 21-19. World number two Lee Chong Wei leads Malaysia's challenge for the title with a tough showdown against England Sunday. Japan and South Korea are seen as the closest challengers to China in the Uber Cup, but Malaysia will be buoyed by a 5-0 romp over New Zealand, with world number 10 Wong Choo Mew leading the charge. Mew was nervy in the first set against Rachel Hindley as she struggled to read the drafts on court but knuckled down to win 21-18, 21-6. "Today was our first match and we just wanted to get a feel for the court and the drafts in the stadium," she said. "As a team, we're really happy and confident after today's performance." Julia Wong and Lydia Cheah also tasted victory with Denmark their next opponent on Monday. South Africa play South Korea later Sunday while Japan play Indonesia, Germany take on the United States. New Zealand must recover from their drubbing to face Denmark. |
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