Alor Setar: China’s women team defeated Korea 3-1 in the 2018 Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) semi-finals to set up a final clash with Japan on Sunday.In the semi-final tie, World No.9 Chen Yufei pulled off an upset to beat World No. 6 Sung Ji Hyun of Korea 21-14, 21-15 to score the first point for China.
Korea’s World No. 11 Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan then levelled the score 1-1 by outlasting Dong Wenjing/Feng Xueying, 21-13, 21-9.
China’s World No. 9 women’s singles player He Bingjiao managed to give China a 2-1 lead by notching up a win against World No. 17 Lee Jang Mi, 21-19, 21-19 before Cao Tong Wei/Zheng Yu overcame Chang Ye Na/Kim Hye Rin 21-17, 21-14 in 41 minutes to score the third point of the tie in favor of China.
In another semi-final, Japan swept Indonesia 3-0 through their first women’s singles – Akane Yamaguchi, first women’s doubles – Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi, and second women’s singles Nozomi Okuhara.
After the tie, Japan’s head coach Park Joo-bong stressed that his team has a good chance of giving China a tough fight in the final on Sunday.
“Although China didn’t send their best players to this tournament, but their current team is also very strong,” said Park.
“It’s going to be a tough final. But I am confident in my players, they have improved a lot since last year, and I believe they will do well in the final,” added Park.
Below are the line-ups for both Japan and China in the final:
Women’s Singles 1:
Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) vs Chen Yufei (China)
Women’s Doubles 1:
Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (Japan) vs Du Yue/Li Yinhui (China)
Women’s Singles 2:
Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) vs He Bingjiao (China)
Women’s Doubles 2:
Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (Japan) vs Cao Tong Wei/Zheng Yu (China)
Women’s Singles 3:
Sayaka Sato (Japan) vs Gao Fangjie (China)
