Singapore took a step closer to promotion to the top division at the Sudirman Cup World Team Championships yesterday with a vital 3-2 win over Taiwan in Division 2.
Hendri Kurnian Saputra and Yuija Li had given Singapore the perfect start with a 21-10, 21-15 win over Tsai Chia-hsin and Cheng Shao-chieh in the mixed doubles and Ronald Susilo added the men's singles with a 21-14, 21-18 win over Hsieh Yu-hsing.
Taiwan hit back to claim a victory in the women's singles that raised hopes of a recovery.
PHOTO: AFP
Cheng courageously came back from dropping the first game to beat the former Commonwealth Games Champion Li Li 15-21, 21-11, 21-16 and keep her team's hopes alive.
But the match came to an end when Saputra and Hendra Wijaya overcame Lee Sheng-mu and Fang Chieh-min 21-8, 22-20 in the men's doubles.
Singapore is the only team in Division 2 Group A with two wins out of two and compete the round-robin stage with a tie against Germany today.
Germany, who lost to Taiwan in the first round, beat a disappointing Swedish team, who were relegated from Division 1 in Beijing two years ago, 4-1.
If Singapore top the group, they will face the winners of Division 2 Group B for the right to play-off for promotion to the top flight of eight. Japan and Poland are currently the top two teams in Group B.
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