China to have easy match over Japan in semis<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa and Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Defending champion China is likely to have an easy match against
\nJapan in Thursday's semifinals of the 2004 Uber Cup women's team
\nbadminton championships in the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium,
\nSenayan, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, European powerhouse Denmark and dark horse South
\nKorea will go head to head in what onlookers predict will be a
\nferocious semis fight.<\/p>\n
While China and Japan have had convincing cup wins in the
\npast, Korea and Denmark have yet to win the competition although
\nthey have been consistent finalists.<\/p>\n
China defeated South Korea 3-1 two years ago before a home
\ncrowd in Guangzhou, while in 2000 the Danes suffered a 3-0
\nwhitewash also at the hands of China in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Along with the world No. 1 through 3 in its lineup -- Gong
\nRuina, Zhang Ning and Zhou Mi, China also has world No. 6 Xie
\nXinfang.<\/p>\n
On paper, the Chinese women should barely sweat it out to
\noverpower Japan's Kanako Yonekura, Mori Kaori, Tanaka Miho and
\nrookie Yu Hirayama, who are setting their sights on the 2006
\ncontest in Sendai and Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Gong has won all her four encounters against Yonekura. The
\nlast time was at the 2004 Japanese Open first round-match, 11-7,
\n11-6 in April. But no Chinese player took the women's singles
\ntitle at the event. Considering the Chinese usually bring home
\nthe women's singles and doubles titles, this was a surprise.<\/p>\n
The match between Denmark and South Korea, meanwhile, is
\nlikely to be a fierce one although Danish head coach Steen
\nPedersen considers his opponent the favorite.<\/p>\n
"We will be open-minded and try to field the best team we have
\non Thursday. The match will be really fun for us, as we've
\nreached our goal of getting into the semifinals," he said.<\/p>\n
Korean team manager Kim Jung-soo said his first two singles
\nplayers had a fair chance of losing their matches against
\nDenmark.<\/p>\n
"We must be able to steal a point in the doubles as our level
\n(here) is above the Danes," he said<\/p>\n
Korean singles Jun Jae-yun, Seo Yoon-hee, Ha Jeung-eun and
\njunior Lee Yun-hwa have better average rankings than Danes
\nCamilla Martin, Tine Rasmussen, Camilla Sorensen and Amalie
\nDynnes Orsted.<\/p>\n
Former world champion Martin, however, will surely give her
\nbest to grab the first point for her team, although she is
\ntrailing 2-1 to world No. 7 Jun in previous encounters.<\/p>\n
The absence of Ra Kyung-min, who is suffering from injury, is
\nnot likely to weaken Korea's doubles performance. Hwang Yu-mi and
\nLee Hyo-jung are ranked No. 6 in the world. Ra's partner Lee
\nKyung-won is paired with Yun Hwa to form the second doubles pair.<\/p>\n
The Danes, however, are not far away in rankings as Rikke
\nOlsen and Ann-Lou Jorgensen are ranked No. 7 in the world, while
\ntheir second doubles pair of Mette Schjoldager and Pernille
\nHarder are No. 11.<\/p>\n
South Korean shuttlers, however, are known for their stamina.
\nEven without Ra, the Koreans will be tough opponents for the
\nDanes to beat.<\/p>",
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