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BWF: Hosts win 6th straight title & 10th overall

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China battled Japan for the trophy in Dongguan for the final of the Sudirman Cup, and the host was looking to win badminton's top team title for a sixth straight time.

China's Lin Dan celebrates after winning the men's singles match against Japan's Takuma Ueda during the final at 2015 Sudirman Cup BWF World Mixed Team Championships in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, May 17, 2015. China beat Japan by 3-0 and claimed the title of the event. [Xinhua] 

In the opening men's doubles match, China's Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan took a 16-15 lead over Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa — and then won the first game, which propelled them to an opening set win.

Japan took the second frame and set up a decider, but cheered on by the home crowd, Fu and Zhang won the third—21-17— to give the host a 1-0 lead.

Reigning Olympic women's singles champion Li Xuerui then made it 2-0 for China as she swept past Akane Yamaguchi—23-21, 21-14.

That meant Lin Dan could win it for China, as he battled Takuma Ueda, and when his Japanese opponent hit long, the two-time Olympic champ was a set away from victory.

Ueda trailed 16-10 in the second, but did not go quietly.

China's Zhang Nan (R) and Fu Haifeng (L)

The Chinese eventually completed a 21-15, 21-13 victory to clinch the Sudirman Cup for China, winning it 3-0 over Japan.

"I wanted to play in every match at this Sudirman Cup, and it is tough to wait to find out if I will play or not—I waited a long time to find out. Today, I won the match in two games, but personally, I felt some unexpected pressure ahead of the match as I really wanted to win. If I lost, I could not forgive myself for ruining my team's chances of winning. So yeah, I was pretty nervous at the start of the match," said Lin Dan, five-time Sudirman Cup champion.

Park Joo Bong, Japan Coach said: "Actually, our target for this event is playing into the semi-finals. We reached the semis and today we played the final, in which we lost to China, but anyway, we are happy about the Sudirman Cup result."

 

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