Badminton no.1 An brings 'fire' as South Korea win Uber Cup

Copenhagen, 4 May- World number one and Olympic champion An Se-young "started the fire" as South Korea toppled China to win badminton's prestigious Uber Cup women's world team title.

China meanwhile beat France to lift the Thomas Cup, the men's crown, also in the Danish city of Horsens.

South Korea won the Uber Cup for a third time with a 3-1 victory over title-holders China late on Sunday.

Top-ranked An put the Koreans on their way, dismantling world number two Wang Zhiyi 21-10, 21-13.

China levelled in the first doubles rubber through Tan Ning and Liu Shengshu, before Kim Ga-eun stunned Chen Yufei 21-19, 21-15 to put South Korea within sight of glory.

Baek Ha-na and Kim Hye-jeong fought back to defeat Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian 16-21, 21-10, 21-13 to seal the triumph.

"An started the fire going," said team captain Lee So-hee, who reserved special praise for Kim Ga-eun following her surprise victory over Tokyo Olympic champion Chen.

"Ga-eun was in a tough match, but she did it, I'm very proud of her."

Kim, the world number 17, was delighted to have played her part after being dropped from the semi-finals.

"I wasn't in the lineup for the tie against Indonesia in the semi-finals as I hadn't played well earlier," she said.

"But that helped me save energy and it was also good motivation for the game."

China, badminton's superpower, retained their Thomas Cup crown with a 3-1 win over France.

It was France's first Thomas Cup final, underlining the country's rise in the sport.