The team event for the 2018 Asian Games concluded on Wednesday August 22, and the champions of the recent Thomas and Uber Cup Finals secured the team gold.
Japan’s women’s team started the day of the finals by defeating China. Chen Yufei got China off to a good start by defeating Akane Yamaguchi. But the nothing seems to stand in the way for the Japanese women’s doubles at the moment, and they won the both of them in two games.
And in between Nozomi Okuhara fought for one hour and 18 minutes to defeat He Bingjiao; 21-16, 19-21, 21-15. Japan won the final 3-1 against China and is now 2018 Uber Cup and Asian Games champions.
- We did it. I am proud that I could fight with these team members. I love them. Thank you very much everyone, Okuhara wrote on her Instagram with a photo of her teammates holding up their gold medals.
Dramatic final for the hosting nation
To the home crowds’ great joy, Indonesia’s men’s team had reached the final and was up against the powerhouse from China. After losing in the semifinal to Chou Tien Chen, Shi Yuqi had something to prove in the first men’s singles.
And he got quite a challenging match against Anthony Ginting. After one hour and 32 minutes’ drama, at the score 20-21 in the third game, Ginting had to retire with and injury and was carried off court in a stretcher. Afterwards, Indonesia’s stars Sukamuljo and Gideon evened the score to 1-1 after winning the first men’s doubles.
Chen Long digged deep to defeat Jonathan Christie in a long three game thriller, and, finally, Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan won the second men’s doubles; 21-18, 17-21, 21-18. China won 3-1 and can like Japan’s women’s team celebrate being not only the best team in the world but also at the Asian Games.
Find all the results from the Asian Games here
The individual event kicked off today on August 23 and will conclude by August 28.