China reign supreme in mixed team yet again in Badminton Asia Junior Championships
China once again reigned supreme in the mixed team event - winning the title for the fourth year running - with a 3-1 win over South Korea in the final in the 19th edition of the SCG Badminton Asia Junior Championships in Bangkok on Tuesday.
However, the Koreans, despite their fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of the mighty Chinese, can walk tall as they showed much improvement in their overall performance after losing 3-0 in last year's final.
China secured the winning point in the girls' singles through Chen Yufei who outplayed Kim Hyang-im 21-13, 21-15 in 36 minutes - sending her teammates into wild celebrations.
China swept the first point through their mixed doubles pair of Du Yue-He Jiting with a hard fought 21-17, 21-19 win over Kim Won-ho-Lee Yu-rim in a 36 minute match.
That set the tone for the second match - which was the boys' singles between Sun Feixiang against Byun Jung-soo. Fexiang dominated his match right from the start and completed his job in 34 minutes with a 21-8, 21-13 win to put China in the driving seat.
The top seeds, however, were jolted when they lost the boys' doubles which was decided in a rubber. Korea's Kang Min-hyuk-Kim Won-ho earned the cheers from the Thai supporters for their gritty performance in an hour-long match before prevailing 24-22, 12-21, 21-19 against Han Chengksai-Zhou Haodong to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
But the jolt was just a hiccup for the Chinese when they sealed the winning point for an unassailable 3-1 lead through the Chen Yufei after her win over Hyang-im. Hyang-im was playing in place of Kim Ga-eun who was the toast of the Koreans in the 3-1 win over Thailand in the semi-finals on Monday.
Ga-eun delivered two crucial points for Korea - in the girls' singles and later teamed up with Hyang-im in the girls' doubles. In the final Ga-eun was scheduled to play only in the girls' doubles after coming down with severe cramps in her legs in the win over Thailand..
This is the fourth time China defeated the Koreans in the mixed team final since 2013. As defending champions China were the top seeds while the Koreans were seeded eighth.
The Koreans, however tore the seedings upset down with a 3-1 win over second seeds Thailand in the semi-finals while China proved too strong for Japan with a 3-0 win.
The individual events get underway at the same venue on Wednesday.
RESULTS (Mixed Team Final)
China beat South Korea 3-1
(China first)
Boys' Singles
Sun Feixiang beat Byun Jung-soo 21-8, 21-13
Boys' Doubles
Han Chengkai-Zhao Haodong lost to Kang Min-hyuk-Kim Won-ho 22-24, 21-12, 19-21
Girls' Singles
Chen Yufei beat Kim Hyang-im 21-13, 21-15
Mixed Doubles
Du Yue-He Jiting beat Kim Won-ho-Lee Yu-rim 21-17, 21-19
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