The Japanese women dominated the final and won the 2018 BWF Uber Cup after a 37-year wait. They beat hosts Thailand 3-0 in very efficient style, without dropping a game. Could this be the beginning of another period of domination for Japan?
This victory was the first since Japan’s golden era between 1966 to 1981, where they achieved an impressive 5 Uber Cups and a runners-up medal in just 6 tournaments. And this 2018 squad looks mightily exciting and with youth on their side, they may yet have more Uber Cups in them in years to come.
Never in doubt
Japan stormed through the group stages, recording 5-0 wins in all three of their matches, only dropping one game in the process. They then recorded two solid 3-1 victories against Chinese Taipei (quarter-final) and South Korea (semi-final) which were never in doubt. In the final they met hosts Thailand in a packed arena of loud home support, which ended in a comfortable 3-0 win.
The Thai team have had an extremely good tournament to get this far and have done their fans proud. The highlight would be of course the emotional 3-2 semi-final victory over holders China.
Uber Cup final result:
Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) bt Ratchanok Intanon (THA) 21-15, 21-19
Yuki Fukishima/ Sayaka Hirota (JPN) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul/ Puttita Supajirakul (THA) 21-18, 21-12
Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) bt Nitchaon Jindapol (THA) 21-12, 21-9
Tomorrow is the Thomas Cup final where the Japanese men will be hoping to emulate the success of the women and upset favourites China. Click
here for all the results and fixtures.