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China beat Korea to retain Asia mixed team badminton title
India, who lost 3-2 to China on Saturday, and Thailand, defeated 3-1 by Korea, picked up the bronze medals
The Chinese team celebrate their victory on Sunday. — Supplied photo
Top seeds China were stretched to four matches at the Asia Mixed Team Badminton Championship but retained the title with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Korea.
At Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City, China raced to a 2-0 lead with wins in straight games for Lei Lan Xi in the men's singles, followed by a similar result for Gao Fang Jie in the women's singles.
Lei, ranked 121st in the World Rankings, beat Lee Yun Gyu 21-16, 21-15 in just 47 minutes, while Gao, ranked 101st in women's singles, needed three extra minutes but gave away one less point in her 21-15, 21-15 defeat of Kim Ga Eun.
However, China's hopes of closing the final in three matches did not materialise as the men's doubles turned out to be a thriller.
The Korean pair of Kim Won Ho and Na Sung Seung fought back after losing the first game rather tamely to beat He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 19-21, 21-16, 21-17.
The match lasted an energy-sapping one hour and 15 minutes.
The Indian team with their bronze medals. — Supplied photo
In what turned out to be the final match, the youthful power of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning prevailed over the experience of Jeong Na Eun and Lee So Hee.
The Chinese women's doubles team won 21-11, 21-10 which saw some dour defending from the Koreans early in the match.
The first point saw a 67-shot rally, followed by an even longer 89-shot rally for the second point and a 112-shot rally for the sixth point.
But once the Chinese pair overcame that session of play, it was smooth sailing for the duo.
India, who lost 3-2 to China on Saturday, and Thailand, defeated 3-1 by Korea, picked up the bronze medals.
China won the championship in 2019 when they beat Japan 3-2 in Hong Kong, and the 2021 edition in Wuhan was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Japan won the inaugural edition in 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City with a 3-0 win over Korea.
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