10-time champions China take on three-time winners Korea in the final of 2017 Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia on Sunday.
The defending champions survived a stiff test in the semi-final and edged out defending Badminton Asia Mixed Team champions Japan 3-2 on Saturday. On the other hand, Korea eased past Thailand 3-1 earlier in the day to reach their eighth title match in the tournament's history.
China will start the tie as favourites, having all-round singles and doubles teams. Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan gives his side a big edge over Korea in the Men's singles rubber as he has a 12-2 head-to-head record over world number one Son Wan Ho, who is likely to take the court on Sunday.
On the other hand, world number four Sung Ji Hyun got back to winning ways after losing twice on the trot to Tai Tzu Ying with a win over former world number one Ratchanok Intanon in the semi-final. The one-sided win will give her a lot of confidence ahead of the big test.
The doubles rubbers though are evenly matched between the two sides. World number three Women's singles pairing of Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee will be key to Korea's chances as they are likely to face lower-ranked Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan today.
In the Men's singles, Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen are looking set to seal a point for China. Having not played world number three Kim Ha Na in any of their Mixed doubles matches so far, the pressure to deliver in the crucial Mixed doubles rubber against world number one Chen Qingchen and Zheng Siwei will be on Korea.
Team News
China
Possible line-up: Lin Dan (MS), Sun Yu (WS), Liu Yuchen/Li Junhui (MD), Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan (WD), Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong (XD)
Korea
Possible line-up: Son Wan Ho (MS), Sung Ji Hyun (WS), Kim Won Ho/ Seung Jae Seo (MD), Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee (WD), Chae Yoo Jung/SolGyu Choi
