China

China beat Netherlands to win Uber Cup

(AFP)
Updated: 2006-05-07 14:03

TOKYO - World number one Zhang Ning has spearheaded China to a 3-0 victory over the Netherlands to win their fifth straight and 10th overall Uber Cup team badminton championships.

"The Dutch players played really well, but my players were better, they showed champions' form even they were down. I'm very proud of my players," said Chinese head coach Li Yongbo.

China's Zhang Ning (C) and Xie Xingfang (L) hold up the trophy while Huang Sui smiles atop a victory podium at the Uber Cup badminton tournament in Tokyo May 6, 2006. Overwhelming favourites China whitewashed the Netherlands 3-0 to win their fifth straight Uber Cup on Saturday. [Reuters]

"A fifth straight victory is not the end. We are determined to make it a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th straight victory. Whenever we take the Uber Cup to the next tournament, we want to bring it back home.

"Hopefully, we can finish better at the Beijing Olympics in 2008," Li added Saturday.

Zhang repeated her excellent performance from the Athens Olympics gold medal showdown against Mia Audina Tjiptawan by beating her 21-18, 19-21, 21-18 in the opening match of the best-of-five.

"I'm satisfied with my play in the first two games. I just rushed too much when I was leading 19-16 in the second, I tried to drop the shuttle too much and it often landed in the net," said Zhang.

"It was the same in the third game after leading 12-2. I rushed too much again and made many errors. I stopped dropping the shuttle and just kept it in the back of the court. It worked very well."

It was sweet revenge for her loss 12 years ago to Audina, who clinched the final match to secure the 1994 Uber Cup for her native homeland Indonesia.

"I lost to Audina in the Uber Cup when we played for the first time. Since then, we played each other so many times around the world. She's still a very good player," said Zhang, 31.

Audina, the Atlanta Olympic silver medallist, was philosophical about her loss. "That's why I'm still playing," she said. "Today, it was a question of who has the best day, and she had the best day."

World champion Xhie Xingfang gave China a 2-0 lead with a 21-17, 21-18 victory over world number 39 Judith Meulendijks.

"I was a little bit tired in the second game," said Xie, who came back from 7-13 down in the second. "She hit some excellent backhand shots, so I tried to attack her forehand."

Despite losing, Meulendijks said she was satisfied with her performance.

"I played my best matches since I came back from an injury. Even though I lost, I can say that I had a really good Uber Cup. I'm really satisfied even though I didn't win. I'm very happy with the results," said Meulendijks.

Jiang Yanjiao, ranked 14th in the world, sealed China's defence of the cup, beating Rachel van Cutsen 21-9, 21-7.

"I was nervous at the beginning, but I was able to play my game once I took the lead," said Jiang, 19, after her Uber Cup debut. "I'd like to thank my coach, Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang for giving me a comfortable debut."