NANNING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Host China beat Denmark 3-1 to qualify for the semifinals of the Sudirman Cup here on Thursday evening.
In the opening mixed doubles, world No.1 Huang Yaqiong and Zheng Siwei rallied from one game down to beat 14th-ranked Danish combination Mathias Christiansen and Sara Thygesen 19-21, 21-11, 21-13 in 63 minutes.
The Chinese pair led all the way till 19-19 before losing Game 1. "In the second half of Game 1 they lobbed the shuttle to the backcourt, which made us feel uncomfortable," Zheng said, adding that they adjusted themselves to the best and managed to win the following two games through communication with partner Huang.
Denmark erased the deficit by winning the men's singles when third-ranked Viktor Axelsen beat world No. 5 and Rio Olympic champion Chen Long 21-11, 21-18 in one hour.
Chen defeated Axelsen 21-19, 21-11 in quarterfinals of BWF World Championships 2018, but the Dane gained his revenge here on Thursday. "I know if I want to beat him I must play carefully in all aspects. I made a lot of mistakes in Game 2 but I have better physical energy," said Axelsen.
"We have played many times and we know each other very well, Axelsen played very relaxed today and his performance is better than me," said Chen.
From the men's doubles, world's No. 3 Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen edged over 8th-ranked Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-18, 21-16 in 55 minutes, helping China lead 2-1 for good.
Then, Chen Yufei sealed the victory for China in the women's singles as the third-ranked shuttler cruised over 22nd-ranked Mia Blichfeldt 21-16, 21-17. "I had a better performance than the previous days, and hope to tune up for the coming matches," said Chen.
In the semifinals on Saturday, China, who won the Cup 10 times, will meet Thailand who beat South Korea 3-1.
