The same old tune was played out in Tianhe Stadium of Guangzhou as
was heard two years ago.
Chinese girls were celebrating their eighth Uber Cup triumph in a
record tenth final appearance after they overcame South Korea 3-1
on Saturday, leaving the rest of the world wondering who will be
able to challenge their supremacy in the ladies team tournament and
how soon.
"Chinese girls have the firepower to control the destiny of the
Uber Cup for the decade to come, even two decades," said Chan Chi
Choi, head coach of Hong Kong after his team was whitewashed 3-0 by
the host in semi-finals.
Overwhelming were the Chinese players, who warmed up a little in
the group with two 5-0 wins and a 4-1 victory before easing through
the semi-finals to lift the silverware.
China head coach Li Yongbo was delighted by the victory but not
over-confident in their future.
"Chinese women's team may have some advantage over others but we
have to be aware of the challenges from the South Koreans and some
top players from Denmark and Indonesia."
For the finalist of last Uber Cup Denmark, their story was a sad
one as Hans Christian Anderson, the ever-famous Danish writer,
always told. The traditional European powerhouse found with
frustration its reign over their continent seriously
challenged.
Head coach Sten Petersen had foreseen his team's fate even before
the competition got started because of his young lineup as well as
missing key singles player Mette Sorensen. "We could finish either
first or fourth in our group. We have a lot of young players who
are not used to this level of competition."
The result proved Petersen a good prophet as the Danes, with the
All-England titlist Camilla Martin, first fell victim to an
inspired Dutch team out of all expectation, and then to Hong Kong
and Indonesia in group competitions.
Thus, the Danes faded out while the Dutch jumped into the
limelight.
Sweeping the singles podium of the European championships for the
first time, the orange legion made history again to qualify for the
last four in Uber Cup thanks to their well-accomplished foreign
player Mia Audina.
Audina, former Indonesian ace helping her birth country to two Uber
Cup triumphs, almost single-handedly lifted her adopted nation to
their first ever semi-final.
"Her presence in the team sets a high standard for other players,
who now have the chance to play such good shuttler everyday," said
Alex Meijer, head coach of the Netherlands, explaining why his
players jumped to a higher level of play.
Hong Kong of China was another revelation in this tournament. Led
by former Chinese player Wang Chen, Hong Kong produced the biggest
surprise by fighting through a tough group to make their first-ever
semi-final appearance, in which they fatefully lost to China.
Hong Kong head coach Chan Chi Choi said they had achieved more than
he expected. "The result was so good that it went beyond my
expectation."
(eastday.com May 20,
2002)