[1]A rampant China underlined their dominance of world badminton on Sunday by pounding Indonesia 3-0 to emphatically win a fourth consecutive Thomas Cup title.
The victory cemented China’s reputation as a leviathan in the sport after their women were shocked by an unfancied South Korea on Saturday, and boosted morale in the camp ahead of the Asian Games in November.
“It was absolutely perfect — everyone in the team played their best,” said coach Li Yongbo.
Temperamental talisman Lin Dan led the charge with a stunning win.
It ought not to have been so easy against Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat, an Olympic and world gold medallist, and a player who can beat anyone on his day.
But Lin blasted his way to a 21-7 win in the first game at Kuala Lumpur’s Putra stadium, before securing the second 21-14.
Hidayat, the only member of Indonesia’s Thomas Cup-winning side in 2000 who is still plays at international level, last met Lin in the 2009 French Open final, when he was beaten in straight sets.
Again, Hidayat had no answer to Lin’s deadly combination of precision long drops, aggressive drives and clinical smashes.
The world number eight pairing of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng then put China firmly in control of the final, beating Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in a three-game thriller.
Indonesian No.2 Simon Santoso tried to prevent a whitewash but his best was not enough as he lost a titanic struggle to world number three Chen Jin 19-21, 21-17, 21-7, handing China the Thomas Cup. —
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/sp1jpg-544