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China's "unbeatable" women flatten Denmark to retain Uber Cup

Kuala Lumpur, May 20 (AFP) - All-conquering China cruised to their second successive Uber Cup crown here Saturday, dishing out a one-sided masterclass to Denmark in the final of the women's badminton team tournament.

China - tagged as unbeatable throughout the competition - lived up to their billing with an effortless 3-0 victory at the Putra Stadium.


China's Uber Cup coach Li Yongbo receiving the Uber Cup [Photo by Sportalasia]

World number three Dai Yun sealed the Chinese women's victory, beating Mette Sorensen in the third rubber of the best-of-five match 11-8, 11-1.

Denmark's hopes of scoring what would have been a massive upset had evaporated after the first rubber, when world champion Camilla Martin was beaten by world number two Gong Zhichao.

All England champion Gong - who had won three out of four of her previous encounters against the Dane - played superbly to record a clinical 11-9, 11-5 win.

China went 2-0 ahead when their world and Olympic champion doubles pair Ge Fei and Gu Jun overwhelmed Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen 15-2, 15-9.

Ge and Gu, who have dominated women's doubles for the past five years, outclassed the Danish duo with a scintillating array of winners, to extend their unbeaten record against Kirkegaard and Olsen to 13.

Their 24-minute win set up world number three Dai to clinch China's seventh Uber Cup title in the third rubber.

Sorensen resisted Dai briefly early on but as soon as the Chinese player got her measure the game was up, Dai winning in just 20 minutes.

Remarkably, China went through the entire tournament without dropping a rubber, beating all their three group opponents 5-0 before blanking South Korea in the semi-finals and Denmark in the final.

Only one other team in the modern era - China in 1984 - has managed the same feat.


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