China won their sixth consecutive Sudirman Cup on Sunday, defeating Japan, which had reached the badminton tournament's finals for the first time. Thousands welcomed home team China with horns and drums as they entered and huddled to chants of "go China, go", with jeers heard when the Japanese team arrived on the court in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan.
China swept Japan 3-0 in a series of tightly contested matches during the final day of the event, with Chinese superstar Lin Dan jumping in the air and pumping his fist after winning his men's single match against Japan's Takuma Ueda 21-15, 21-13.
"It (the win) means a lot to me because I was in the men's singles for the finals and made the contribution for our team's win," Lin told reporters after receiving his gold medal.
But the 31-year-old Lin also said he felt a bit nervous coming into the match.
"I had the confidence to beat Ueda, but I couldn't tell why I felt a little nervous and pressure when I played the game," he said.
"We wanted to have the consecutive win to keep the Sudirman Cup in China," he added.
Lin also said that the Japanese badminton team would be a strong opponent for China in the upcoming Thomas Cup in 2016.
"I never thought that Japan's victory last year in the Thomas Cup was an accident because we've seen a lot of strong opponents from Japan, Denmark and Korea," he said.
"Next year is also the Olympics so we need to have good performance in the Thomas and Uber Cup."