Sudirman Cup: China and South Korea meet in the final

China and South Korea meet in the final of the Sudirman Cup at the Putra Stadium here today after they easily overcame they semifinal opponents on Saturday.

China and South Korea, the champions of Group A and B respectively, were given a keen fight by Denmark and Thailand but recorded 3-1 victories each.

In the China-Denmark clash, China's world number three mixed doubles pair Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei downed Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen in 21-15 and 21-12 to give the "Great Wall" their first point.

This was followed by their world number two men's singles player Chen Long outclassing Jan O Jorgensen in 21-16, 21-16.

Denmark, who emerged as the runners-up among the European teams this time, however, narrowed the gap to 2-1 when their world number one men's doubles pair Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe defeated 2012 London Olympics gold medallists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21-16 and 21-17.

It was all over for the Danes when world top women's singles Li Xuerui finished off Line Kjaersfeldt in 21-13, 21-9.

This is the 10th time China are in the final since the biennial Sudirman Cup was introduced in 1989 in Indonesia.

However, they won it only eight times, in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 and were runners-up in 2003.

For the South Koreans, this is the seventh time they made it to the final.

They reached the final in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2003 and 2009 but only won the Cup in 1991, 1993 and 2003 with the rest of the encounters seeing them being runners-up.

In their clash against Thailand today, their mixed doubles pair Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na defeated Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam 21-18,21-19; Lee Dong Keun lost to Boonsak Ponsana in 21-9,21-12 in the men's singles; Ko Sung Hyun and Lee Yong Dae beat Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Puangpuapech 21-12, 21-11 in the men's doubles and Sung Ji Hyun delivered the winning point by beating Ratchanok 21-17, 21-14 in the women's singles.

The final kicks off at 2pm today at the same venue.