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JAKARTA: Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang led China to crushing victories in
defense of their titles at the Thomas and Uber Cup team
championships on Sunday, but Indonesia’s men were given a wake-up
call.
World’s No. 1 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’s No. 4 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 looked confident as they
seek to win the sport’s most coveted trophy for a third straight
time.
Their women counterparts were on an equal
footing in the Uber Cup, beating former world power the United
States 5-0 with Lin’s girlfriend and world’s No. 1 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.
-- AFP
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