In the final round of Group B of the Thomas Cup Badminton Team Tournament in 2022, the Chinese team will play against the Danish team. Although Lu Guangzu came up and was reversed by Ansailong, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi and Li Shifeng won two games in a row, and the Chinese team once overtook, but He Jiting/Zhou Haodong and Weng Hongyang lost successively. Ranked second in the group and entered the quarterfinals.
The Chinese and Danish teams defeated France and Algeria 5-0 in the first two group matches respectively, and both competed for the first place in the group for two consecutive victories. In this matchup, the Chinese team sent a lineup composed of Lu Guangzu, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, Li Shifeng, He Jiting/Zhou Haodong and Weng Hongyang to play, while the Danish team was led by Olympic champion Ansailong.
In the first singles match, Lu Guangzu challenged Ansailong. In the first game, Lu Guangzu attacked very strongly, scoring 4 points in a row after 2-2. Axelsen scored 3 points in a row through control in front of the net. Lu Guangzu stepped up the attack and pulled it to 9-5. After widening the point difference to 12-6, Lu Guangzu missed a lot of chance balls, and Axelsen scored 6 points in a row to catch up to 12-12. After the two sides were tied at 15, Lu Guangzu withstood the opponent’s counterattack, Ansailong’s control dropped and went out of bounds many times, Lu Guangzu scored 4 points in a row 19-15. The key point is that Lu Guangzu seized the opportunity and took the lead 21-17.
In the second game, Lu Guangzu was suppressed by Ansailong after 7-5, losing 4 points in a row 7-9, and fell behind to 8-11 by the time of the timeout. After the suspension, Ansailong’s offensive was even more fierce. Lu Guangzu lost consecutive points in response to the unfavorable situation. After 9-13, he lost 7 points in a row. In the decisive game, Lu Guangzu was still passive, and Axelsen showed his ability to quickly attack to the fullest, and soon took a 6-2 lead. Lu Guangzu couldn’t keep up with the opponent’s rhythm. Ansailong had a strong offensive and gained an 11-6 advantage at the time of the timeout. Lu Guangzu made a series of mistakes, Ansailong’s attack became more and more powerful, and Lu Guangzu was widened to a point difference of more than 10 points, unable to exert pressure. Axelsen finally won the decisive game 21-9 and achieved a reversal to defeat Lu Guangzu. This is also the first time that the Chinese team has lost points in this soup cup.
In the second doubles match, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi played against Astrup/Christiansen. In the first game, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi scored 4 points in a row after 6-8 after the first half. Although they were chased to a 15-tie by their opponents, they still won 21-16 at the end of the game. In the second game, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi scored 7 points in a row after 2-2, suppressed their opponents all the way, and won another victory 21-11, helping the Chinese team to tie the score.
In the third singles match, Li Shifeng played against Antonsen. In the first game, Li Shifeng failed to bite the score. After 11-12, he lost 5 points in a row and fell into a passive position, losing the first game by 15-21. In the second game, Li Shifeng was chased to 10 draws with a 9-5 lead. After that, a 5-0 offensive established the advantage. After missing 2 game points, he won 21-19. In the deciding game, Li Shifeng played well, opened the point difference in the second half, led the way and won 21-13, achieved a reversal and defeated Antonsen, and the Chinese team overtook the total score 2-1.
In the fourth doubles match, He Jiting/Zhou Haodong played against Rasmussen/Segao. In the first game, He Jiting/Zhou Haodong lost 7 points in a row with an 8-4 lead, and thus fell into a passive situation and lost 16-21. In the second game, He Jiting/Zhou Haodong failed to keep up with the opponent’s rhythm after 14 draws, and lost another game at 17-21. The total score of the two teams was 2-2.
In the last singles match, Weng Hongyang encountered Viking Hughes. Weng Hongyang played proactively in the first game, leading 9-2 in the first half, and taking the lead 21-16 all the way. In the second game, Weng Hongyang was 7-14 behind, but he recovered 2 game points and lost 19-21. Weng Hongyang stubbornly held on to the score in the decisive game, but unfortunately missed the opportunity to score a key point after 18 draws, lost 3 points in a row and lost 18-21, and was reversed and lost to Witting Hughes.
In the end, the Chinese team unfortunately lost to the Denmark team with a total score of 2-3. In the group stage, they ranked second and advanced to the quarter-finals. The Danish team won all three games and ranked first in the group.
Original title: Tang Cup Guoyu lost 2-3 and was swallowed by Denmark, and the second group went into the quarter-finals
Editor in charge: Zeng Shaolin
