Indonesia and Malaysia set up Thomas Cup final<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (Reuters): Former Danish coach Morten Frost led his
\nadopted Malaysia into the Thomas Cup final against holder
\nIndonesia after a thrilling 3-2 victory over his old team
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Frost, who broke up with the Danish squad, beamed with delight
\nafter the lowly-ranked Roslin Hashim beat Kenneth Jonassen in the
\ndeciding fifth match.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, which hired Frost after being slammed at home for
\nfailing to reach the semis of the 1996 Thomas Cup men's team
\nchampionship, plays Indonesia tomorrow in a rematch of the 1994
\nfinal. Indonesia won that encounter 3-0, the match being halted
\nwhen celebrating fans engulfed the winning squad.<\/p>\n
Backed by a noisy, flag-waving section of the 3,000 crowd, the
\nIndonesians hit top form to defeat top seed China 3-2 later
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Denmark, finalist in 1996 under Frost, was bidding to become
\nthe first European team to win the prestigious title but Olympic
\nchampion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen and Jonassen, the hero in its
\ngroup win over China, failed to perform.<\/p>\n
Frost, a four time All-England champion, said that he did not
\nfeel any regret at leading Malaysia to victory over Denmark.<\/p>\n
\"I want to win - it does not matter who I am coaching. Denmark
\ndid not want me in the first place - we were arguing too much and
\nDenmark made the choice themselves (to part company),\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hoyer-Larsen, in the twilight of his career at 32, battled
\nbravely against the 22-year-old Yong Hock Kin but the touch of
\nold deserted him at crucial moments.<\/p>\n
The impressive Peter Gade Christensen, the world number one,
\nopened Denmark's account with a 15-7, 15-10 win over All-England
\nrunner-up Ong Ewe Hock but Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael
\nSogaard went down in three games to Cheah Soon Kit and partner
\nfor the day Choong Tan Fook.<\/p>\n
Malaysia split its double duos for the semi but Yap Kim Hock,
\nCheah's regular partner, did not click with Tan Kim Her and they
\nlost to Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen to make the team score 2-
\n2.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Hashim, ranked 29th in the world, lost a tight
\nfirst game against Jonassen but took full advantage of his
\nopponent's jitters to win 15-18, 15-5, 15-8.<\/p>\n
All-England champion Sun Jun gave China a winning start
\nagainst Indonesia when he beat former world champion Hariyanto
\nArbi 17-18, 15-4, 15-1.<\/p>\n
Olympic champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky thrashed Liu
\nYong and Zhang Wei to level the scores and Hendrawan took
\nIndonesia into the lead with a breathtaking 15-9, 15-4 victory
\nover world number three Luo Yigang.<\/p>\n
Candra Wijaya and Budiarto Sigit, the world champions, played
\naggressively and well to wrap up the tie with a 15-3, 15-6
\nvictory over a bemused Yang Ming and Yu Jinhao.<\/p>\n
With its women team in the Uber Cup final against China today,
\nIndonesia has the chance to complete a hat trick of double win
\nand give its troubled country a jolt of pride.<\/p>",
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