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China drub Korea to lift crown

Last Updated 17 May 2009, 17:37 IST

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng's 21-14, 17-21, 21-19 men's doubles victory over Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae secured China's third successive triumph in the biennial world mixed team championship.

Olympic mixed doubles champions Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung had given the Koreans a glimmer of hope by taking the first game of the first encounter in the best-of-five match final.

But, Zheng Bo and Yu Yang roared back in front of a partisan crowd in southern China to win the match 18-21, 21-19, 21-16 and put the home side 1-0 up.

Olympic and world champion Lin Dan then took to the court to put China on the verge of a seventh triumph in 11 editions of the competition, dispensing with Park Sung-hwan 21-14, 21-18 in just 51 minutes.

Beijing Olympic silver medallists Cai and Fu's men's doubles victory then ensured that China would retain the trophy without losing a single match in five encounters over the eight days of competition.

China have won the last three editions of the Thomas Cup, the world men's team championship, and the last six Uber Cups, the women's equivalent.

Meanwhile, the Badminton World Federation has decided to change to format of the tournament, making it a knockout event. That means the promotion that India gained this year would have no impact by the time the next edition comes along.

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(Published 17 May 2009, 17:37 IST)

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