The Chinese men's badminton team advanced to semi-finals of the Uber Cup after beating Chinese Taipei 3-0 here on Thursday.
For the first single, Olympic champion Chen Long went through a tough battle with Chou Tien Chen, reports Xinhua news agency.
Chen Long beat Chou in the first game by 21-18 and lost to him by 10-21 in the second, which is a surprise to his coach and himself. Finally he beat Chou by 21-14 in the third game, ending the match which lasted for 83 minutes.
"In the first game, when I led as 14-7, I made too many mistakes, and he caught up to 17-16", Chen told media after the match.
He said he didn't know how he lost so many points to Chou in the second game and he decided to calm down and think how to prepare the third game, which he won.
Then Chinese doubles Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan beat their opponents Lee Jhe-Huei/Lee Yang by 21-18, 21-18.
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In the second single, Shi Yuqi beat Wang Tzu Wei by 21-18, 21-19. Shi said he felt great after winning the match.
After winning the match, Chinese men will encounter either Indonesian men or Malaysian men on Friday to compete the entrance to the Final of Thomas Cup.
"It would be hard no matter which team we are to compete with," said Liu Cheng, China's head coach of doubles.
--IANS
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