HORSENS, Denmark, May 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea claimed the Uber Cup title on Sunday, defeating defending champion China 3-1 in the final to secure its third crown after triumphs in 2010 and 2022.
Photo: Xinhua
In the opening singles, a showdown between the world's top two players, world No. 1 An Se-young dominated Wang Zhiyi 21-10, 21-13 in 47 minutes.
"I was very excited to win the first point for my team and really enjoyed the match," said An, 24.
Wang acknowledged that An was superior on the day. "I lost energy during the long rallies and made more errors. It was my first time playing as first singles, and I felt more pressure and responsibility for the team," she said.
Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning leveled the tie with a 21-15, 21-12 win over Jeong Na-eun and Lee So-hee in the first doubles.
"There were some changes in our opponents' lineup, which was a bit unexpected," Liu said. "But our approach is always simple - focus on our own game. No matter how the opponents change, we stay the same."
China's Olympic champion Chen Yufei then fell 21-19, 21-15 to world No. 17 Kim Ga-eun in the second singles. Kim admitted she had ridden an emotional roller coaster.
"At times I probably looked a bit down, and I know that was tough not only for me but also for people watching. It was frustrating," Kim, 28, said. "But now I'm really glad that I can smile again. When I started having too many negative thoughts, it felt like I was just going deeper and deeper. So I told myself to let it go, reset, and try again with a clearer mindset. That helped me focus better coming into today's match."
Chen said her pace dropped after taking the lead and that she began to doubt her attacking game.
"After a couple of errors on attack, I started to hesitate. Once I hesitated, my shots were no longer as threatening, which gave my opponent more confidence," she said.
In the fourth match, Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian took the opening game 21-16, but the newly formed pair of Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jeong responded strongly, winning the next two 21-10, 21-13 to seal the victory for South Korea.