Korea dethrones China in a comeback to win Uber Cup
Korea have done the impossible and won the BWF Uber Cup, coming from a match down to dethrone China, 3-2 in a pulsating final last Saturday, May 14 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Both teams have alternated wins in an enduring session that lasted for almost six hours, until the Koreans broke the pattern in the third and deciding singles match to end their 12-year drought.
A fiery opening salvo went the Chinese way in the singles as world number three Chen Yu Fei recovered from dropping her first game to outlast world number four An Se-young in a 91-minute marathon, 17-21, 21-15, 22-20.
Korea then leveled it in their first doubles tiff, with the second-best pairing of Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan needed 78 minutes for their first career win against the top duo of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan 12-21, 21-18, 21-18.
But the Chinese retook the lead in the second singles, with world number nine He Bing Jiao brushed aside Kim Ga-Eun 21-12, 21-13 that only lasted 43 minutes, the shortest match of the tie.
Alas, that was the last time the defending champions have tasted the upper hand, as the Koreans also responded with a sweep of their own in the last doubles outing with Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Hee Yong needed just 59 minutes to whitewash Huang Dong Pin and Li Wen Mei in straight games, 22-20 21-17.
That set up a fitting finale in the singles, with 46th-ranked Sim Yu Jin taking on world number fifteen Wang Zhi Yi where the match also went the distance as they split the first two games (28-26 to Sim, 21-18 to Wang).
In the deciding game of the final match, Sim scored 12 straight points to outlast an already weary Wang, 21-8, ending an 88-minute marathon to claim their first Uber Cup since winning it all in 2010 in Malaysia.
