体坛英语新闻：China defends Sudirman Cup with victory against South Korea

KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (Xinhua) -- China national badminton team defended the Surdiman Cup title in a convincing 3-0 victory against South Korea in the final on Sunday, winning the title five times in a row.

World No. 1 Xu Chen/Ma Jin led China to a 1-0 lead by defeating their South Korean opponents Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na in straight games 21-13, 21-15 in the mixed doubles.

In the following men's singles, China's Chen Long gave Lee Dong Keun no chance by defeating the South Korean shuttler 21-15 and 21-10 in 47 minutes.

In the third match, the less known Chinese men's doubles pair Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan stuned the South Korean aces Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae 21-19, 21-17, sealing the victory for China.

China and South Korea are the two major competitors at Sudirman Cups since the tournament was first held in 1989, as China lifted the Cup 8 times while South Korea won three champions in the past 12 tournaments. The two teams made to Sunday's final by defeating Denmark and Thailand respectively in the semifinals.

China's head coach Li Yongbo said he didn't expect a straight win and the South Korean team should have caused more trouble to the Chinese side.

Li said the South Korean team might be too optimistic on their mixed doubles and men's doubles pairs, both remained unbeaten in the tournament until the final.

China's ninth Sudirman Cup titles and the fifth consecutive win shows its dominance in the sport. However, Li said Chinese players deserved the hard-fought victories and the shuttlers from other countries should try harder in order to pose a greater challenge to China.

Li said some teams like Thailand and Chinese Taipei demonstrated their improvement during the Sudirman Cup, which is good for the sport as a whole.