Taiwan lost 3-2 to Denmark in their Group D Thomas Cup badminton match on Wednesday, while China easily beat defending champion Japan 5-0 in their final Group A match.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen breezed past Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-16, 21-13 before Mads Conrad-Petersen paired with Mads Pieler Kolding to beat Lee Sheng-mu and Tsai Chia-hsin 22-20, 21-9, giving a 2-0 lead to already qualified Denmark.
Taiwan, which finished second in the group and also qualified for the quarter-finals, pulled one back through Hsu Jen-hao’s 13-21, 21-16, 21-19 victory over Jan O Jorgensen in a marathon match which lasted 79 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Mathias Boe and Mathias Christiansen then earned Denmark a decisive 3-1 lead when they beat Wang Chi-lin and Chen Hung-ling 21-17, 19-21, 21-17.
“We all knew how important it was to win this match and top the group,” Christiansen said. “It was about keeping our heads cool and we did that and managed to do well in the last few rallies.”
Wang Tzu-wei reduced the margin for Taiwan, beating Hans Kristian Vittinghus in a thrilling 21-13, 19-21, 25-23 win.
Japan felt the absence of Kento Momota as China, which had already qualified for the quarter-finals, topped its group with its third successive victory, which included wins by Lin Dan and Chen Long.
New Zealand, already out of the quarter-final race from Group D, got a consolation win when they beat South Africa 4-1 in their last group match.
Indonesia remained unbeaten in Group B when they blanked India 5-0 in the last group match. Hong Kong finished runner-up in the same group by defeating Thailand 4-1.
France got the consolation victory in Group A when they routed Mexico 5-0, which lost all three of their group matches.
In the women’s Uber Cup, India fought hard against group leaders Japan before losing 3-2 and finishing second in Group D.
China recorded a 5-0 victory against Denmark, which finished second in Group A.
South Korea topped Group B with a 4-1 win over Taiwan, which finished second.
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