Title No.16 for China

There was to be no breach of The Great Wall. China bagged Uber Cup No.16 with a comprehensive 3-0 result over Indonesia.

With 24 straight wins through the tournament – and no loss – China regained the title that they’d lost to Korea in the last edition.

China hadn’t lost a match all week, and that wasn’t about to change in the final. The closest Indonesia got was in the third match, with Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo, in the biggest match of her young career, taking the fight to He Bing Jiao. The 19-year-old was unfazed by the occasion and gave a good account of her abilities. Having taken the opening game and staying close in the third, Wardoyo had a shot of pulling Indonesia back in the contest from 0-2 down, but He Bing Jiao’s superior experience and sense of opportunism helped her surge ahead at the end.

Indonesia’s slim chances hinged on Gregoria Mariska Tunjung breaking through in the opening match against Chen Yu Fei, but Chen never allowed her opponent into the contest. Tunjung looked too tight on the big occasion, while Chen scored winners at will. The lead was China’s in 38 minutes.

“I didn’t feel that comfortable although I have played such matches before,” said Chen Yu Fei. “I still feel stressed, and maybe my opponent was less so. There’s not much difference this year or in previous finals, I always feel pressured in finals.

“I have lost to her before. What I did was watch a lot of matches that I’d lost to her. It’s not going to help if I only watch matches that I won.

“I didn’t change my tactics. I got the first game comfortably. I did what I planned.”

Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan had come close to a loss in the semifinals, but today they didn’t give Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti and Ribka Sugiarto a sniff of a chance. The demolition job took 39 minutes, and then it was He Bing Jiao’s turn.

“We last won the title in 2021; during the last three years we experienced failures, and I’m happy that we could regain the title,” said He Bing Jiao. “Last time it was a shame that we couldn’t win the Uber Cup, so over the last two years we were always ready, and we were playing at home.”

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