Indonesia, Denmark have equal chances<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Indonesia will battle against Denmark for
\nthe last ticket to the final of the Thomas Cup championships at
\nthe Putra Indoor Stadium here on Friday.<\/p>\n
However, both teams seem unsure of their chances, saying it
\nwill be a very open and tough match as each has its own advantage
\nand disadvantage.<\/p>\n
Indonesian team manager Sumaryono said on Thursday at the
\nMines Beach Resort and Spa that Denmark had two excellent singles
\nplayers of world ranking, number one Peter Gade Christensen and
\nnumber three Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, who is also the 1996
\nOlympics gold medalist.<\/p>\n
\"I told the squad that they are not allowed to be down 0-2
\nfrom the beginning as the second singles will have a mounting
\nburden in the situation.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have any options in the singles as we only have
\nHendrawan in the first, Taufik Hidayat in the second and Marlev
\nMainaky in the third.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia brought along Hariyanto Arbi, who remained on the
\nbench as a supporter due to suffering a slight hamstring injury
\non the second day of the team's arrival here.<\/p>\n
\"I see Hendrawan is in top form and he is quite confident. He
\nis never afraid of his opponent and he is well prepared for the
\nevent,\" said Sumaryono.<\/p>\n
Hendrawan complimented Gade Christensen. \"Peter played very
\noutstandingly here. He never gave his rival more than seven
\npoints. The odds are 55-45 for Peter, considering my loss to him
\nat the Ipoh Masters in September.<\/p>\n
\"But this is a team event and there are lots of factors that
\ncan influence our performance. I hope I can win because the rest
\nof the team can play in a more comfortable situation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sumaryono said he was worried about Taufik's chances of
\nbeating Hoyer-Larsen, who will turn 35 on Sept. 20.<\/p>\n
\"I have no idea how to beat Hoyer-Larsen. He's quite old as a
\nsingles player but he has very good placings in every match. I
\nhave told Taufik's coach (Mulyo Handoyo) to prepare the player as
\nbest as possible.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully, the presence of Taufik's parents will give him the
\nextra motivation to give his best.\"<\/p>\n
Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan are to play the first doubles.
\nBut in the second doubles, the team should have fielded a new
\npartnerships of Antonius Budi Ariantho and Sigit Budiarto instead
\nof 1996 Olympics champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, due to
\ntheir diminishing performance.<\/p>\n
Favorite<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Danish head coach Kenneth Larsen played
\ndown his team's chances, saying the team was not a favorite to
\nbring home the cup.<\/p>\n
\"On paper, we can only count on our first and second singles.
\nBut Indonesia has a benefit from their strong doubles. The chance
\nremains on the third singles. Tomorrow will be a very tough and
\nopen match.\"<\/p>\n
Hoyer-Larsen said: \"I have to regain my speed in the match
\nagainst Taufik. I played poorly here, especially against South
\nKorean Lee Hyun-il, because I only had one month for training.\"<\/p>\n
Denmark will place its hopes on Gade Christensen and Hoyer-
\nLarsen. In the doubles, it will likely field Martin Lundgaard
\nHansen and Lars Paaske in the first and Jens Eriksen and Jesper
\nLarsen in the second.<\/p>\n
Eriksen and Larsen shocked South Korea in a group round-robin
\nmatch by easily upsetting world number three Lee Dong-soo and Yoo
\nYong-sun 15-10, 15-1.<\/p>\n
The most decisive match is likely between Marlev and Kenneth
\nJonassen. Just like Indonesia, Denmark will likely opt to put
\nAnders Boesen on the bench as he has yet to play a single match
\nduring the round-robin. (yan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-denmark-have-equal-chances-1447893297",
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