China rolled-on to a widely expected defense of its Uber Cup crown but a stubborn Japan almost derailed the victory parade.

China's top-seeded women overcame Japan's feisty crew, 3-1, to win their 13th Uber Cup at the Li-Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2014 in New Delhi, India. The win meant the Chinese successfully defended the trophy they won at Wuhan in the home country in 2012.

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It also gave China its eighth title from the last nine editions of the Uber Cup. China has contested 16 successive finals. Japan finished runner-up for the second time, the first coming in 1975.

The final results: Li Xuerui defeated Minatsu Mitani 21-15, 21-5; Bao Yixin and Tang Jinhua lost to Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 18-21, 9-21; Wang Shixian defeated Sayaka Takahashi 21-16, 21-12; Zhao Yunlei and Wang Xiaoli defeated Miyuki Maeka and Reika Kakiiwa 21-13, 21-6.

China was widely expected to win 3-0, including the two singles, and seemed well on the way to fulfilling this prediction when World No. 1 Li Xuerui beat Minatsu Mitani in just 36 minutes for her fifth straight victory against the Japanese.

But in the following doubles match, World No. 4 Matsutomo and Takashahi surprised world No. 2 Bao and Tang, 21-18, 21-9.  What made the Japanese win all the more astounding was that the Japanese duo had lost all their three previous encounters with the Chinese.

Asian Games champion Wang Shixian got China back on the winner's track by taking the second singles while doubles specialists Zhao and Wang battered World No. 5 Maeda and Kakiiwa.

The victory of the Chinese women made up somewhat for the humiliation of the Chinese men who were denied their sixth straight Thomas Cup by Japan, which trounced them soundly, 3-0, in the semifinals. The Japanese men went on to win the Thomas Cup against Malaysia, 3-2.

China's head coach Li Yongbo said their Uber Cup victory was very significant for the team.

"This victory has two meanings for us," he said. "One was that our experienced players controlled the situation well, and the other was that our young players gained experience. We took the campaign very seriously."

The Japanese's previous best performance in 12 Thomas Cup appearances was a semi-final berth in 2012. It became only the fourth country to have won the Cup since 1948. The three other countries are China, Indonesia and Malaysia.