China opened its Thomas Cup and Uber Cup title defenses with 5-0 wins over Australia and Ukraine on Saturday in Horsens.

China beat Australia with clinical ease in the Thomas Cup Group A tie. Shi Yu Qi, the number one player in the world, led the way by beating Ephraim Sam 21-14, 21-10 in just 31 minutes.

China maintained its pace throughout. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang won their men's doubles match against Jack Yu and Rizky Hidayat quickly, 21-11, 21-12.

Li Shi Feng, who faced the only real challenge of the day, made the tie for China. He lost a game but bounced back to beat Shrey Dhand 21-15, 17-21, and 21-16.

After that, it was one-way traffic. Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi won their doubles match easily, 21-8, 21-12, and Lu Guang Zu finished the rout with a solid 21-7, 21-6 win.

Guang Zu was thrilled to make a strong start but remained cautious, as he said after the match, “However, the campaign might get increasingly difficult as we go. We can’t let our guard down just because of a 5-0 win in the first match,” he said.

China Sweeps Ukraine in Uber Cup Opener

In the Uber Cup, China's women's team was equally dominant, beating Ukraine 5-0 and not losing a single game in their Group A match.

Chen Yu Fei set the tone with a calm 21-9, 21-14 win over Sofiia Lavrova. Han Yue won the next match easily, 21-7, 21-12, putting even more pressure on Ukraine.

Xu Wen Jing then won the match in a big way, giving up only 12 points. The doubles teams kept up the pressure, and Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, as well as Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min, finished the sweep with straight-game wins.

Following the game, Yi Jing expressed her pleasure with how well the team had begun and wished that China would maintain the same spirit in their next game against Denmark.

China's depth in both teams has already become visible. And their results across the Thomas and Uber Cups highlight strong early-round form.

What are your thoughts on China's dominance? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Chitrak Mukherjee

Edited by

Rudra Dubey