The South Korean men's badminton team have successfully secured their ticket to the semifinal round of the Thomas Cup Finals 2016 with a 3-1 win over China on Thursday at the Court 1 of the Kunshan Sports Center in Jiangsu, China.

According to Xinhua, the Koreans completely erased hopes of the host country reclaiming the world men's team championship title that they lost two years ago in New Delhi, India. The defeat marked China's earliest exit from the prestigious badminton tournament since the Asian powerhouse started participating in the event in 1982.

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BWF's world No. 1 Chen Long succumbed to the world No. 9 Son Wan Ho with a tough 21-12, 16-21, 21-15 loss. The right-handed 28-year-old Korean wrapped up his hard-earned victory in an hour and 28 minutes to give South Korea an early 1-0 lead.

"I think I was impatient tonight especially in attack. I had a good start in the decider, but after that I lost my rhythm due to impatience," said Chen.

In the next match, the men's doubles combination Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan failed to tie the match for China as world No.1  Yoo Yeon Seong and Lee Yong Dae got the better of the Chinese pair with a 23-25, 23-21, 21-12  win to extend the team's lead to 2-0.

The third match kept the host country's hope alive as the two-time Olympic gold medalist and current world No. 3 Lin Dan came up winning against the world No. 16 Lee Dong Keun 21-10, 21-15 to cut the deficit to just one point.

However, the tandem Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang gave the Korean their first win over the Chinese in the history of the Thomas Cup with a 21-15, 21-18 triumph over the pair of Li Junhui and Zheng Siwei.

South Korea will be facing the Indonesian team, who ousted Hong Kong to secure a place in the finals.

Tagsthomas & uber cup, Lin Dan, Chen Long, bwf rankings, bwf 2016