Vantaa: Shi Yuqi who stunned Kento Momota in the 2019 Sudirman Cup final 15-21, 21-5, 21-11 to help China won its 11th Sudirman Cup in Nanning, China, repeated his feat two years later against the same opponent, in the final of the same event in Vantaa, Finland on Sunday.
Throughout the men’s singles match that took place at the Energia Areena on Oct 3, 2021, Momota was trying to move Shi Yuqi around the four corners of the court, attempting to wear the Chinese player out. However, that was not as effective as Momota expected, as Shi Yuqi would seize the opportunities from Momota’s high lift and finished it with a powerful cross-court smash.
Meanwhile, Momota himself was rarely smashing the entire match, which put Shi in a very comfortable defensive position as he only needed to pay attention to Momota’s net shots and kill the shuttlecock whenever Momota lift it to the baseline.
Shi eventually overcame Momota 21-13, 8-21, 21-12 in 61 minutes to give China a 2-1 lead.
China’s men’s doubles pair He Ji Ting/Zhou Hao Dong capped a remarkable opening match against Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of Japan, where they came back from dropping the second set to see off Hoki/Kobayashi 21-17, 14-21, 21-16.
In the women’s singles match that followed, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi who lost to Chen Yufei 21-17, 16-21, 17-21 in the 2019 Sudirman Cup final in Nanning, China, was determined to not let history repeat itself in the 2021 edition. The World No. 5 Yamaguchi imposed a fast tempo playing style right from the beginning, and the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist looked rushed, couldn’t seem to slow down Yamaguchi to go down to the Japanese player 19-21, 16-21.
After Shi Yuqi gave China a 2-1 lead, Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan took that searing momentum into the women’s doubles match and Mayu Matsumoto/Misaki Matsutomo were not used to the strong attacks from the Chinese pair. Jia Yi Fan sealed the championship point with a return to Mayu Matsumoto, but Matsumoto hit the shuttlecock too strong towards the right side of Chen Qing Chen and it landed out of bound.
The Chinese players immediately storming the court to celebrate their 12th Sudirman Cup title.
China took home the Sudirman Cup for the first time in 1995 and then claimed the championships four consecutive times until the 2001 edition. They lost to Korea in 2003 and came back in 2005 to keep the Sudirman Cup for the next 6 editions before losing to Korea again in 2017.
They reclaimed the trophy in 2019. Winning Sudirman Cup for the 12th time was a record so incredible which may never be touched by any team in the history of badminton.
