Uber Cup Day 3: Carolina Marin returns as group winners were known
The third day of the BWF Uber Cup Finals 2022 sees the confirmation of the group winners as the we move on to the knockout phase. Also, we can see the return of a bonafide badminton superstar into the competition.
We look at how the evening matches went in Bangkok.
Carolina Marin returns, China sweeps Chinese Taipei to win Group B
There is another question apart from who wins Group B: Will Carolina Marin show up for Spain?
The answer was a resounding yes. After skipping the first two ties against Chinese Taipei and China, the former World Number 1 finally turned up in the Thai capital as they face Australia in their final tie at Court 3.
On her road to recovery that included her sixth straight European title in Madrid, Marin made quick work on Wendy Chen, dispatching her in straight games (21-12, 21-18), with the Spaniards eventually won 4-1, taking third place in their group.
In Court 1, holders China won their group after a 5-0 whitewash on their neighbors who had rested Tai Tzu-ying having clinched their quarterfinal slots.
In the third playing order, world number nine He Bingjiao survived a scare against 87th ranked Sung Shuo Yun, coming from a game down to win the rubber (18-21, 21-15, 21-18) and eventually the tie.
Thailand survives marathons, sweep Denmark to win Group C
Group C was won by Thailand, who blanked Denmark for their second whitewash in three Uber Cup ties.
However, it was not a walk in the park by the host nation after Ratchanok Intanon’s two-game sweep (21-13, 21-19) of Mia Blichfeldt as the next four rubbers went the distance in Court 2.
In those four marathon matches, two of those have Thailand being a game down with Pornpawee Chochuwong giving them the tie after an 18-21, 21-6, 21-7 win over Line Christophersen.
On the other tie in Court 4, Malaysia capped off their campaign with a 5-0 rout of Egypt without dropping a single game.
