KUALA LUMPUR (MAY 12,2010): The dominant Chinese women will meet archrivals Indonesia tomorrow for a place in Saturday's Uber Cup final. The other semi-final is between Japan and South Korea as the European challenge fell by the wayside once again.
China, who have been in cruise control from day one, eased past India in their quarter-final tie today to keep up their perfect record in the competition. Seeking their seventh straight Uber Cup and 12th overall, China had a slight scare when Wang Yihan was taken to the limit by India's Saina Nehwal before winning 14-21, 21-11, 21-18 at Putra Stadium.
That was as good as it got for India as Ma Jin-Wang Xiaoli beat Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-8, 21-11 while Wang Xin clinched the winning point with a 21-10, 21-14 victory over Sayali Gokhale.
Indonesia, meanwhile avenged their SEA Games defeat to Malaysia when a 3-0 romp. Adriyanti Firdasari thrashed Wong Mew Choo 21-9, 21-16 in the first singles and any hope Malaysia had of reaching their first ever Uber Cup semi-final was ended when Greysia Polii-Meilani Jauhari defeated former world No. 1s Wong Pei Tty-Chian Eei Hui 26-24, 21-18.
Olympic bronze medallist Maria Kristin Yulianti clinched the winning point when she beat youngster Tee Jing Yee 21-19, 21-16. Indonesia won the Uber Cup for the third and last time in 1996 and are determined to give the Chinese a run for their money.
Manager Yakob Rusdianto said: "We may the underdogs but we are determined to bring home the cup. It has been a long wait and hopefully, we will end it in Malaysia."
South Korea, who have lost five finals, will clash with Japan, who are five-time winners tomorrow. South Korea defeated Russia 3-1 while Japan defeated Denmark by the same score.
Bae Seung-hee gave South Korea the perfect start when she defeated Ella Diehl 21-9, 19-21, 21-14 while Lee Hyo-jung-Kim Min Jung beat Valeria Sorokina-Nina Vislova 21-23, 21-9, 24-22 to make it 2-0. Sung Ji-hyun, however, lost 12-21, 21-8, 14-21 to Tatjana Bibik but Ha Jung-eun-Jung Kyung-eun clinched victory when they defeated Ksenia Polikarpova-Anastasia Russkikh 21-16, 21-12.
Japan, who are aiming for a double in Malaysia - their men's team are in the Thomas Cup final - had a tense encounter before pulling away from their European rivals.
Eriko Hirose was simply too good for Camilla Sørensen, winning 21-17, 21-11 but Satoko Suetsuna-Miyuki Maeda fumbled against Kamilla Rytter Juhl-Christinna Pedersen, losing 21-13, 21-15. Ai Goto put Japan ahead by beating Karina Jorgensen 21-14, 21-10 before Mizuki Fuji-Reika Kakiiwa had to dig deep to beat Lena Frier Kristiansen-Marie Ropke 21-13, 19-21, 21-19.
UBER CUP
China 3 India 0 (Wang Yihan bt Saina Nehwal 14-21, 21-11, 21-18; Ma Jin-Wang Xiaoli bt Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-8, 21-11; Wang Xin bt Sayali Gokhale 21-10, 21-14) not played Du Jing-Yu Yang vs Aparna Balan-Shruti Kurian Jiang Yanjiao vs Trupti Murgunde
South Korea 3 Russia 1 (Bae Seung-hee bt Ella Diehl 21-9, 19-21, 21-14; Lee Hyo-jung-Kim Min Jung bt Valeria Sorokina-Nina Vislova 21-23, 21-9, 24-22; Sung Ji-hyun lost Tatjana Bibik 12-21, 21-8, 14-21; Ha Jung-eun-Jung Kyung-eun bt Ksenia Polikarpova-Anastasia Russkikh 21-16, 21-12) not played Bae Youn-joo vs Natalia Perminova
Indonesia 3 Malaysia 0 (Adriyanti Firdasari bt Wong Mew Choo 21-9, 21-16; Greysia Polii-Meilani Jauhari bt Wong Pei Tty-Chian Eei Hui 26-24, 21-18; Maria Kristin Yulianti bt Tee Jing Yee 21-19, 21-16)
Japan 3 Denmark 1 (Eriko Hirose bt Camilla Sørensen 21-17, 21-11; Satoko Suetsuna-Miyuki Maeda lost Kamilla Rytter Juhl-Christinna Pedersen 21-13, 21-15; Ai Goto bt Karina Jorgensen 21-14, 21-10; Mizuki Fuji-Reika Kakiiwa bt Lena Frier Kristiansen-Marie Ropke 21-13, 19-21, 21-19)
Captions: Pix 1 - Wong Mew Choo, Pix 2 - Yulianti
