China beat Algeria to take second group win at Thomas Cup

BANGKOK -- China's men's badminton team eased past Algeria 5-0 on Tuesday to take the second win in the Thomas Cup group stage.

In this campaign, China's top singles Lu Guangzu, was replaced by Zhao Junpeng, who led China 21-11 and 21-15 against Koceila Mammeri in the opening match. In the second singles, Li Shifeng easily defeated Mohamed Abderrahime Belarbi by 21-7 and 21-10.

Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang made their Thomas Cup debut, defeating Sifeddine Larbaoui and Mohamed Abdelaziz Ouchefoun 21-4 and 21-4 in less than 20 minutes.

Men's singles player Weng Hongyang, who was also making his first appearance in the campaign, and doubles Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi both won in straight sets to give China a 5-0 victory.

China will face Denmark in the third and last group match to decide the group winner.

"I am looking forward to the match against China," Viktor Axelsen, the world No. 1 in men's singles, said after his match against France on Tuesday.