The same old tune was played out in Tianhe Stadium of Guangzhou as was heard two years ago.

Chinese girls were celebrating their eighth Uber Cup triumph in a record tenth final appearance after they overcame South Korea 3-1 on Saturday, leaving the rest of the world wondering who will be able to challenge their supremacy in the ladies team tournament and how soon.

"Chinese girls have the firepower to control the destiny of the Uber Cup for the decade to come, even two decades," said Chan Chi Choi, head coach of Hong Kong after his team was whitewashed 3-0 by the host in semi-finals.

Overwhelming were the Chinese players, who warmed up a little in the group with two 5-0 wins and a 4-1 victory before easing through the semi-finals to lift the silverware.

China head coach Li Yongbo was delighted by the victory but not over-confident in their future.

"Chinese women's team may have some advantage over others but we have to be aware of the challenges from the South Koreans and some top players from Denmark and Indonesia."

For the finalist of last Uber Cup Denmark, their story was a sad one as Hans Christian Anderson, the ever-famous Danish writer, always told. The traditional European powerhouse found with frustration its reign over their continent seriously challenged.

Head coach Sten Petersen had foreseen his team's fate even before the competition got started because of his young lineup as well as missing key singles player Mette Sorensen. "We could finish either first or fourth in our group. We have a lot of young players who are not used to this level of competition."

The result proved Petersen a good prophet as the Danes, with the All-England titlist Camilla Martin, first fell victim to an inspired Dutch team out of all expectation, and then to Hong Kong and Indonesia in group competitions.

Thus, the Danes faded out while the Dutch jumped into the limelight.

Sweeping the singles podium of the European championships for the first time, the orange legion made history again to qualify for the last four in Uber Cup thanks to their well-accomplished foreign player Mia Audina.

Audina, former Indonesian ace helping her birth country to two Uber Cup triumphs, almost single-handedly lifted her adopted nation to their first ever semi-final.

"Her presence in the team sets a high standard for other players, who now have the chance to play such good shuttler everyday," said Alex Meijer, head coach of the Netherlands, explaining why his players jumped to a higher level of play.

Hong Kong of China was another revelation in this tournament. Led by former Chinese player Wang Chen, Hong Kong produced the biggest surprise by fighting through a tough group to make their first-ever semi-final appearance, in which they fatefully lost to China.

Hong Kong head coach Chan Chi Choi said they had achieved more than he expected. "The result was so good that it went beyond my expectation."

(eastday.com May 20, 2002)