China failed to snatch its sixth consecutive gold medal in women's badminton team event after losing to top-seeded Japan 3-1 in the 18th Asian Games final here on Wednesday.
The Chinese women shuttlers kicked off their winning trip back to 1998 in Bangkok.
Top singles player Chen Yufei propelled China to leading position through her 21-15, 21-12 victory over Yamaguchi Akane.
"I always stay prepared for the role (of top singles player), and adjusted myself to the match better than yesterday," Chen pointed out.
Chen took charge from the start with her high-quality smashes to build a 4-0 into the match, and from an 11-all draw at the changeover, she pulled away the game.
"My opponent changed her tactics a bit, and I could not adjust to that. Then I made some changes to take away the game," said Chen.
The proceedings became easier for Chen in the second game, as she stood firm to earn China a morale-boosted opening victory.
"It's an important victory for me," Chen admitted, adding that boost in her confidence made the difference.
Japan made their response as world No. 1 pairing Fukushima Yuki and Hirota Sayaka marched past Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan 21-12, 21-17.
Chen and Jia, former world top duo, could not withstand the firepower from Fukushima and Hirota to concede the set.
That attached more importance to the duel between second singles options, He Bingjiao of China and Japanese Okuhara Nozomi.
After losing the first game 21-16, He survived an injury scare in saving a ball during the second game. She returned to court after medical check, and went on to savor the victory of 21-19 to force a decider.
"It was all about a bad move when I saved that ball. I had little feeling then. It was fine, not affecting my performance too much, but mentally I was concerned about it," He recalled.
He dug herself in a hole of 6-17 in the third game, before nailing the next eight points to whittle down the deficit to three points. But she could not inch closer to Okuhara, who closed out the game 21-15.
"Competing with Okuhara was a learning process for me," said He.
In their debut at the tournament, Huang Dongping and Zheng Yu lost to Olympic champions Matsutomo Misaki and Takahashi Ayaka 21-16, 21-11.
Hosts Indonesia and Thailand bagged the bronze medals.
Men's final between China and Indonesia will be played later on Wednesday, as China strives to regain the title it lost four years ago to then hosts South Korea.
