China takes easy win over Finland in Sudirman Cup

HELSINKI - China recorded a commanding 5-0 victory over host nation Finland in the first round of the group stage of badminton's Sudirman Cup on Sunday, with all five matches settled in straight sets.

Tokyo Olympic mixed doubles champions Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping did not give many chances for Anton Kaisti and Jenny Nystrom in a game which lasted 20 minutes, and the Finnish pair only scored 12 points in two sets.

In the men's singles, Lu Guangzu sealed the first set 21-16 against Kalle Koljonen. Lu fell behind in the second with the biggest gap of seven points, but managed to claw it back to 18-18.

When Lu had two game points at 20-18, a blackout occured in the Energy Arena, which paused the game for several minutes. After power was restored, the Chinese shuttler secured the win in 21-19.

Lu told Xinhua that as he hasn't played in international events for a long while, he has hoped to start well in the Sudirman Cup.

"I felt a bit nervous and did not play well on some points in the second set," he admitted. "But I was lucky to win back the points. Kalle created trouble for me with his speed and control. I did not feel good when falling behind."

"When the blackout happened, I was right on the momentum of winning consecutive points and hoped to win the game straight away. The blackout disturbed my tempo. But anyway, it's the same for both sides. Finally I grabbed the win," Lu added.

Elsewhere, He Bingjiao needed only 23 minutes to overwhelm Nella Nyqvist 21-10, 21-6 in the women's singles, while He Jiting and Tan Qiang knocked down Anton Kaisti and Jesper Paul 21-4, 21-14 in the men's doubles.

Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan also secured China an easy victory after beating Mathilda Lindholm and Jenny Nystrom 21-11, 21-11 in the women's doubles.

China will face India on Monday in the second round of Group A.