Thomas and Uber Cup: China badminton boss ‘very satisfied’ after team tournaments
- China defended Sudirman Cup, regained women’s event and finished runners-up to Indonesia in men’s team showpiece
- Former Olympian Zhang Jun bemoans packed schedule but says Chinese will work hard to win back the Thomas Cup next year
Two out of three is not bad was the message from China’s badminton chief after the country defended the Sudirman Cup, regained the Uber Cup and finished second at the Thomas Cup.
The latter two tournaments finished over the weekend, with a young China team beaten 3-0 by Indonesia in the final of the Thomas Cup to rule out a clean sweep of badminton’s most prestigious team silverware.
China Badminton Association president Zhang Jun said that he was “very satisfied with the performance of the players” over the course of the three events in Finland and Denmark this month.
A packed schedule saw them play the China National Games after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games before heading to Europe for the prestigious team events.
Former Olympic champion Zhang, who won mixed doubles gold at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, pointed to the schedule when speaking to state broadcaster CCTV after China’s team commitments wrapped up.
