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Ji Fires China into First Thomas Cup Finals of Decade
The second singles Ji Xinpeng fired China into the finals of the Thomas Cup for the first time in a decade when China outclassed South Korea 3-1 at the Putra Stadium on Thursday.
Ji, the Japan Open men's singles champion, snatched the crucial point on the third game of the tie, edging off Ahn Jae Chang 15-12, 15-10 in 53 minutes to put China into the driving 2-1 lead. China, who were stopped every time in the semi-finals in the past four versions of the biannual event after they won the 1990 edition, will meet the winners of the Friday's semi-finals clash between Indonesia and Denmark.
"I'm very glad that my players could play such a good game under such big pressures," Chinese coach Li Yongbo said. "It's not the result of the game itself that means a lot to us. It's the player's consistence and confidence that will carry our team forward."
Xia Xuanze, who won the All-England Open in March, conquered Lee Hyun Li, the hottest singles player of the tournament, 11-6, 11-5.
Lee, who handled off Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark in the preliminary round, was expected to offer an upset on the uncommon first singles outings. But Xia, ranked seventh in the world, using elegant drops on the net, broke away midway into the first and second sets to get the good of the game.
"The first singles game was very important. If Xia lost, we could go down to 2-0 or even lost in straight games," Li said. Yu Jinhao and Chen Qiqiu delivered a morale-boosting doubles game although they lost to world champion Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon 15-11, 5-15, 15-9.
The Chinese pair produced hard time to their higher-ranked opponents before they surrendered winning points down the strength. Both scored 35 points in the 82-minute match in total. Drawing 1-1 in the tie and 12-12 in the first set, Ji Xinpeng set Ahn around with fast footsteps and powerful strikes to conclude with a net winner following scoring three points in row to take the set.
It was again the Chinese who found the attacking bullets first when the rivalry was stuck at 6-6 in the second set as Ji, five years younger than Ahn at 22, exhausted Ahn with mixtures of lobs and short drops.
Ji's victory unloaded the pressure off Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei, who ended up their winless records to Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung, winning 15-9, 12-15, 15-9. The duo of Zhang/Zhang lost in straight sets at the Japan Open in 1999 and Asian Games in 1998 to Lee/Yoo.
After splitting the first two sets, China led 8-0 to change the sides first and steered up to a 15-9 win in the half-a-hour set. "Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei knew they could finish the semi-finals on the second doubles," Li added.
"Whoever we'll meet in the finals, Indonesia or Denmark, we'll try our best as we did today," Li pledged.
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