Indonesia, Denmark set for tough semifinal encounter<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Guangzhou, China<\/p>\n
As Indonesia's men shuttlers enter the latter stages of their
\ncampaign to write badminton history, the Danes have more modest
\ngoals for their Thomas Cup semifinals match on Friday evening.<\/p>\n
Defending Thomas Cup champion Indonesia has raised the coveted
\ncup four times in a row since 1994, and is aiming for a record
\nfifth. The Danish squad, on the other hand, is looking to avenge
\nits defeat to the Indonesians in the 2000 Thomas Cup semifinals
\nin Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Entering the semifinals full of confidence after winning Group
\nB, Indonesia is striking a careful tone when discussing its
\nchances against Denmark, who was the runner-up in Group A.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot underestimate Denmark's strength because the Danes
\nare good shuttlers,\" said Indonesian team manager, Christian
\nHadinata.<\/p>\n
\"It's going to be a tough match as Denmark doesn't have any
\npressure, unlike us who want to make history. They are also
\ndrawing motivation from their loss to us (at the 2000 Thomas
\nCup),\" he added.<\/p>\n
Indonesia lost only one game -- Marlev Mainaky fell 1-7, 2-7,
\n7-2, 5-7 to Wong Choong Han of Malaysia -- in three qualifying
\nround matches against Thailand, Malaysia and Germany.<\/p>\n
Physical trainer Paulus Pasurney told The Jakarta Post that
\nthe two-day rest before the semifinals would help the Indonesian
\nshuttlers recover somewhat.<\/p>\n
\"It is impossible to improve their level of physical fitness
\nnow. But at least they will be able to recover after such a tough
\nmatch against the Malaysians during the qualifications,\" he said.<\/p>\n
While Denmark is optimistic about its chances, it knows that
\ngetting out of the semifinals will not be easy.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is still the favorite to meet China in the final.
\nBut you never know as our doubles played extremely well against
\nthe Koreans in the qualifying round,\" coach Jan Joergensen said.<\/p>\n
\"It may be difficult for us to win but the Indonesians will
\nnot win it easily either.\"<\/p>\n
Denmark is playing without its top shuttler, Peter Gade
\nChristensen, who is sitting out the campaign following a knee
\nsurgery. But it still managed to finish second after host China.<\/p>\n
Despite being in the tough Group A, Denmark only lost to
\nChina, falling 2-3. The Danes denied the South Koreans' a
\nsemifinals berth with a 3-2 win in a do-or-die match, and chalked
\nup a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Sweden.<\/p>\n
Without Gade Christensen, Denmark is relying on 1997 World
\nChampion Peter Rasmussen. Although he had been out of action for
\ntwo years due to an ankle ligament injury, Rasmussen clinched the
\nEuropean Championships title in April.<\/p>\n
Due to his long absence, Rasmussen virtually has no world
\nranking and is being used as the vital third singles for Denmark.<\/p>\n
Against Denmark, Indonesia will be fielding its strongest
\nsingles players. First singles Marlev is expected to repeat his
\nsuccess of two years ago when he ousted Kenneth Jonassen in the
\nsemifinals with the countries tied 2-2.<\/p>\n
Taufik Hidayat and Hendrawan are likley to face Danish players
\nof Anders Boesen and Peter Rasmussen in the second and third
\nsingles, respectively.<\/p>\n
In the doubles, Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, and Halim
\nHaryanto and Tri Kusheryanto will have a difficult task against
\nthe Danish pairs of Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Jens Eriksen, and
\nJonas Rasmussen and Lars Paaske.<\/p>\n
The Danes have reached the semifinals by defeating some of the
\nbest Chinese and Korean pairs. Paaske and Rasmussen defeated
\nChina's Cheng Rui and Wang Wei and Korea's Lee Dong-soo and Yoo
\nYong-soo. While Hansen and Eriksen enjoyed a victory over Zhang
\nJun and Zhang Wei.<\/p>",
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