Chen the heroine as Chinese women end 12-year wait to reclaim badminton team title

China reclaimed the Asian Games women's team badminton title on Thursday, sweeping host Japan 3-0 in the final at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

The victory ended China's 12-year wait for the women's team gold, with its last title coming at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Wang Zhiyi opened the final with a 2-1 comeback victory over Japan's former world No 1 Akane Yamaguchi. Liu Shengshu and Tang Ning then beat Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima 2-0 in the first women's doubles match, before Chen Yufei defeated Tomoka Miyazaki 2-0 to seal the title.

The victory avenged China's defeat to Japan in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games final, when China lost 3-1, settling for silver.

China also finished runner-up at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 after losing the final to the Republic of Korea. The team had therefore entered these Games with the goal of reclaiming the women's team crown.

"It is very important to the whole women's team and to their mental state," Chinese coach Tao Jiaming said after the victory. "It will help in the individual events."

Wang agreed. "It's very important. After this big challenge, and adjusting to the court, feeling the rhythm, it is good experience as we head into the individual events."

Wang had to overcome a strong challenge from Yamaguchi in the opening singles match. After losing the first game, she fought back to win the next two and put China ahead.

The Chinese team had advanced to the final by sweeping Indonesia 3-0 in Wednesday's semifinal, with Wang, the Liu-Tang pairing and Chen all winning their respective matches.