The incredible stats of the China story

China’s authoritative performance at the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals cannot be defined within clichés. To see what the country has achieved, we will take a look at a few of the numbers:

- China’s ninth Thomas Cup title was also its fifth successive title win since 2004 (Jakarta). It tied Indonesia’s record of five consecutive titles from 1994 to 2001-02.

- China is still second behind Indonesia in the list of Thomas Cup wins, but China entered Thomas Cup competition only in 1981-82, which it won. Taking into account all the Thomas Cups that it has participated in, China has dominated Indonesia – winning nine of the 16 tournaments from 1981-82. Indonesia has won six, while Malaysia has one (1992, Kuala Lumpur).

Lin Dan is all smiles on the podium

- In the group stage against Indonesia and England, China won all ten matches in their two ties, taking 20 games and losing just one. They won 437 points to 239.

- During their entire campaign at the Finals, out of 19 matches, China won all 19, losing just two games and winning 38. This was an incredible statistic, as they faced the very best of the opposition: Indonesia, England, Malaysia, Japan and Korea. The Chinese won 842 points and lost 530, a point percentage of 61.4.

- China swept through their group and the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, beating: England (5-0), Indonesia (5-0), Malaysia (3-0), Japan (3-0) and Korea (3-0).

- In the five matches that Lin Dan played, he lost just one game. The China No.1 won 229 points to 155 during his campaign.

- This was Lin Dan’s sixth successive Thomas Cup final. He was part of the team that lost to Indonesia at Guangzhou in 2001-02.

- This is Lin Dan’s 16^th world title, an all-time world record. This includes: one Olympic gold, four World Championships, two World Cup, five Thomas Cup, and four Sudirman Cup gold medals. Apart from these, the world No.2 also has three Asian Games gold medals, five All England, two Asian Championships, one BWF Superseries Finals, and several other crowns.

This astounding feat of dominance was matched by the performance of their women. China’s women won all 19 of the matches in their overall campaign, winning 38 games and losing 4. The Chinese won 871 points overall, to just 475 by their opponents, a winning percentage of 64.7 (slightly ahead of the men, who logged 61.4 percent)

World No.1 Wang Yihan

- Statistically, the star of the campaign was world No.2 Wang Xin, who lost just 95 points in her five matches, and winning 227.

- China has reached the final of each of the last 15 Uber Cup tournaments since 1984..

- Of the 15, they have won 12. The only three ‘failures’ have been in 1994 and 1996 (both to Indonesia) and 2010 (to Korea)

- In all the Uber Cup finals from 1984, China have won 45 matches and lost 19.

LIN DAN, world No.2

“This is the sixth time I’m playing in the Thomas Cup and I now have five winners’ medals. There is a slight obligation to win for everyone as I know how important this tournament is to the country. I don’t know how many more Thomas Cups I’ll play. This one is at home and I wanted to put on a good show.

Every player gets nervous. When you’re young it’s because you’re excited, it’s the first time you wear your national colours. When you’re older, it’s because there’s a lot of expectation. I didn’t sleep so well last night (eve of the finals).”

WANG YIHAN, world No.1

“It’s a milestone for me – now I can proudly say that I’m over the 2010 loss. I never thought I would cry on court, I could not hold back my tears. I have a bad habit of letting players reach match point. It is my weakness and I did it again and I need to overcome this.”

LI YONGBO, Chief Coach

“We made mistakes the last time (in 2010). Thanks to all our coaches and players’ efforts in the past two years we are champions again. I’m expecting another six-title-streak in the Uber Cup.”