Shi Yuqi of China competes during the men's singles match against Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand at the semifinal between China and Thailand of Sudirman Cup 2019 in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 25, 2019. Shi Yuqi won 2-0 and China won 3-0. (Xinhua/Li Jundong)
NANNING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Ten-time winner China overwhelmed Thailand 3-0 to qualify for the 13th straight time for the final of the Sudirman Cup here on Saturday.
China who has entered the Cup's last four in its first three editions and made it to all the finals since 1995, will play the 2019 final on Sunday against the winner between Japan and Indonesia who will vie for the other spot in the evening.
En route to the final, China only conceded one game by sweeping India and Malaysia in group stage, both at 5-0, and beating Denmark 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
During the opening mixed doubles, world No. 1 Huang Yaqiong and Zheng Siwei scored seven points in a row to rally from 11-14 to 18-14 in the first game before beating the 4th-ranked Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-18, 21-7.
"We didn't start the match well but adjusted ourselves really fast. Then we put the pressure upon them and played to our best," said Huang.
China enlarged the advantage to 2-0 as Shi Yuqi, the World Tour Finals 2018 winner, downed Kantaphon Wangcharoen, the German Junior 2016 champion 21-15, 26-24 in the men's singles after 55 minutes. Shi first squandered two match points at 20-18, then saved four game points from Wangcharoen before sealing the victory on his third match point.
"I didn't have much distracting thoughts during the last period of the second game, just aiming at taking back every point," said Shi.
For his part, Wangcharoen felt happy to get the chance to play in the semifinals, saying "he is better than me."
The men's doubles turned out to be a lopsided match as world's No. 3 Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen outscored Tinn Isriyanet and Kittinupong Kedren 21-14, 21-17, helping China secure the final berth.
"We indeed hope to get better results but I must say Thai shuttlers have done quite a great job during Sudirman Cup. To get the Cup, Thailand need to do more work especially in men's singles," said Thai coach Rexy Ronald Mainaky.
Xia Xuanze, the singles head coach of the Chinese badminton team, said: "We went through some difficulties but still we make it to the final, thanks to the efforts of all our teammates."
