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Dominant Chinese Sweep Past Indonesia’s Brightest
Ami Afriatni | May 17, 2010

China China's team official Li Yongo, left, raises the winning trophy while the players wave bouquets of flowers during the podium ceremony at the end of the Thomas Cup badminton championships in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. A rampant China underlined their dominance of world badminton Sunday by pounding Indonesia 3-0 to emphatically win a fourth consecutive Thomas Cup title. (AFP Photo/Saeed Khan)
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Kuala Lumpur. Indonesia had reason to celebrate on Sunday, taking two games off defending Thomas Cup champion China, as many as it had surrendered in its previous four matches.

That was about all it could celebrate, though, as China continued its reign over the badminton world with a 3-0 victory in the men’s team tournament final at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex.

China won its fourth consecutive Thomas Cup title and eighth overall, spoiling Indonesia’s return to the final for the first time since 2002, the last in its streak of five successive championships.

“Though we lost, we’re still proud of the players for their struggles. They have given their best. It’s acceptable since the opponent team is tough. On behalf of the PBSI [Indonesian Badminton Association], I apologize to Indonesian people for the loss,” Indonesia’s Thomas Cup team manager Jacob Rusdianto said.

The crowd of 12,000 did not have to wait long for the day’s showcase match, with 2004 Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat taking on 2008 Olympic champion Lin Dan.

Lin wasted little time demonstrating his dominance, taking a quick 4-0 lead and going ahead 8-1 after a passage of net play that left Taufik scrambling.

“Everytime I pushed a rally, it always ended with him winning a point,” Taufik said.

Taufik did a better job keeping up with his Chinese counterpart in the second game, but Lin still ran out a 21-7, 21-14 winner.

“Technically and physically, [Lin] is far better than I am. It was not easy to win even a single point. I’ve done my best and I apologized for the loss,” the 28-year-old said. “If I was still in my golden age, who knows? It’s his era now.”

Lin continued his good form against Taufik, a marked contrast from the recent past when he lost to the Indonesian in high-profile events such as the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim, California, and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

In another meeting of Olympians, 2008 men’s doubles gold medalists Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan met runners-up Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng at No. 1 doubles. The Chinese duo got the better of Sunday’s meeting, recovering from a second-game wobble to win 25-23, 16-21, 21-12.

“We were leading in the first game when we started to feel a bit pressure on us, giving them the chance to win,” Markis said.

Fu paid tribute to his foes after the match, saying, “It was the most challenging [final] ever because we have the same style of play as the Indonesians.”

Simon Santoso made a promising start against Chen Jin at No. 2 singles, winning the first game 21-19. He could not keep up the momentum, though, and lost the next two 21-17, 21-7.

Jacob said the PBSI would meet soon after the team’s return to Jakarta to evaluate its performance. The national team’s next challenge comes when the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, begin on Nov. 12.

China did not have it all its own way, though. Its women’s team suffered a stunning 3-1 loss to South Korea in the Uber Cup final on Saturday, giving the Koreans their first world team title.