The Chinese men's badminton team suffered a shocking 1-3 loss to South Korea in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Thomas Cup on Thursday held at the Kunshan Sports Center Court 1 in Jiangsu, China.
With the loss, China failed to qualify in the semifinals of the said tournament for the first time in team history. They also failed to retain the title they last won in 2012, curiously against the South Koreans, when the competitions were held in Wuhan.
World no. 1 Chen Long was outlasted by world no. 9 Son Wan-ho in the first Singles game, 21-12, 16-21, and 21-15, which was a repeat of the result in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games' badminton team final, Xinhuanet reported.
Chen also lost to Son during that time in three sets, 21-5, 22-24, and 21-14, leading to a Chinese collapse in the gold medal match.
"He did well and was more patient today," Chen said after his performance, via Channel News Asia. "I didn't do well because I think too much."
"I think I was impatient tonight specially in attack. I had a good start in the decider, but after that I lost my rhythm due to impatience," he added.
The tandem of Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong then defeated China's Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan in the first doubles match, 25-23, 23-21, and 21-12, to give the South Korean's a 2-0 lead.
World no. 3 Lin Dan gave China some hope as he dominated Lee Dong-keun in the second singles match, 21-10, 21-15, to trim the gap to 2-1 with two more games left.
However, the fall of Li Junhui and Zheng Siwei to Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang in the second doubles match, 21-15, 21-18, was enough to eliminate them from contention.
The third and last singles game between Tian Houwei and Jeon Hyeok-jin was no longer played.
In the 2014 Thomas Cup, China was beaten by eventual champions Japan in the semifinals, losing the title for the first time in five editions of the tournament held every two years.
Defending champions Japan also failed to advance in the semis this year after they were stunned by Denmark, 3-2, in their own quarterfinals encounter.