Normal service restored as China win Thomas Cup
China’s men regained their badminton pride in the Thomas Cup on Sunday, coming from behind to beat Japan 3-1 for their first victory in six years, at Impact Arena in Bangkok.
It was their 10th in a biennial tournament they won in 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990 and between 2004 – 2012 (biennial) before Japan, and then Denmark, deposed them in 2014 and 2016.
Japan drew first blood when Kento Momota stamped his authority over Rio Olympic Games gold medalist and 2014-15 world champion Chen Long 21-9 21-18, his second win over the world No 4 after beating him in the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China, last month.
World Championships men’s doubles winners and world no 3 pairing Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan put China back on track as they easily picked off Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko 21-10 21-18.
China took the lead when 2018 All England winner Shi Yuqi, the world No 3, survived a late fightback from the 14th-ranked Kento Nishimoto to win 21-12 21-17.
Then two-time Asian Championships winners Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen clinched the overall victory, saving two match points at 20-19 down to beat Keigo Sonoda and Yuta Watanabe 17-21 21-19 22-20 in a thrilling battle that lasted 70 minutes.
With the victory, the fifth rubber between former world No 1 and Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan and Kanta Tsuneyama was cancelled.
Japan will still return home with some pride after the women’s side beat Thailand 3-0 for their sixth Uber Cup win on Saturday.
