China sweep Chinese Taipei 3-0 to reach Uber Cup semifinal

AARHUS, Denmark -- The Chinese women's badminton team took three straight wins over Chinese Taipei to earn the Thomas Cup semifinal berth here on Thursday.

Chen Yufei collected the starting win over 30-year-old Pai Yu Po, 21-16, 21-13 in the opener of singles. Chen said she was obviously feeling different in the knockout round with more pressure.

"I did not know too much about Pai or her style. I tried to play at my own pace, but it seems I'm always a bit slow into the games," said the Tokyo Olympics champion. "China lost the chance to the final in the 2018 Uber Cup and we won't let that happen again."

The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan outplayed Hsu Ya Ching and Hu Ling Fang 21-10, 18-21, 21-14 in the doubles, grabbing the second win to give China a 2-0 lead.

"We're happy to take another win to move one step forward to the podium. Our target is definitely to win back the trophy," said Jia.

"We had a bit more mistakes in the second set. Our opponents did a good job, but we turned the game back to our track in the decider."

He Bingjiao overpowered Hung Yi-Ting 21-14, 21-9 in the third match, sealing the victory for China 3-0.

China will face the winners between Indonesia and Thailand in the semifinal on Friday.