Date:12/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/12/stories/2008051255272000.htm

Sport - Badminton

China begins well

JAKARTA: Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang led China to crushing opening day victories in defence of their titles at the Thomas and Uber Cup team championships on Sunday, with Malaysia also chalking an impressive win.

World No. 1 Lin barely broke a sweat in beating Nigeria’s Greg Orobosa Okuonghea 21-6, 21-11 to lead his team to a 5-0 whitewash.

Third-ranked Bao Chunlai was equally dominant, sweeping past Akeem Ogunseye 21-9, 21-3 while World No. 4 Chen Jin demolished Jimkan Bulus 21-7, 21-6.

With doubles pairings Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng and He Hanbin and Shen Ye also firing, China looks unstoppable.

Its women’s team was on an equal footing in the Uber Cup, beating the United States 5-0 with Lin’s girlfriend and World No. 1 Xie whipping Eva Lee 21-10, 21-7.

The results:

Thomas Cup: China 5 bt Nigeria 0; Thailand 3 bt Germany 2; Malaysia 5 bt England 0; Denmark 5 bt New Zealand 0. Uber Cup: China 5 bt United States 0; Malaysia 5 bt New Zealand 0; South Korea 5 bt South Africa 0. — Agencies