Korea, Denmark to battle in decisive Thomas Cup<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): South Korea and Denmark will be involved in
\na do-or-die match in the blue group round-robin in the Thomas Cup
\nchampionships at the Putra Indoor Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n
As both teams have won their opening matches, Sunday's match
\nwill be a decisive one because whoever wins goes on to the
\nsemifinals.<\/p>\n
Danish coach Steen Pedersen hoped his singles could win all
\nmatches. He was unsure about his doubles chances against the
\nKoreans.<\/p>\n
"Tomorrow will be a very crucial match for both of us. We have
\nseen first singles Shon Seung-mo and second singles Lee Hyun-il
\nin the All England and Swiss Open. I don't really understand why
\nlocal press are focusing their attention on Ahn Jae-chang. I
\nthink Lee is the most dangerous player among them," he said on
\nthe sideline of the training session Saturday.<\/p>\n
Denmark outclassed India 5-0 while South Korea shocked host
\nand runner-up Malaysia 2-3 Friday.<\/p>\n
"We have two doubles to face Korea but in individual
\ntournaments they have yet to perform well enough. We hope the
\nfirst doubles will put pressure on the Koreans."<\/p>\n
"While the second doubles are still new. We can't count on
\nthem. We will definitely have difficulties against Korea,"
\nPedersen said.<\/p>\n
The Danish team lineup will likely be world number one Peter
\nGade Christensen against Shon Seung-mo, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen
\nfacing Lee Hyun-il.<\/p>\n
Anders Boesen is likely to replace Kenneth Jonassen -- who had
\na shaky start over Sidarth Jain of India previously -- to take on
\neither Ahn Jae-chang or Park Tae-sang.<\/p>\n
In the doubles, world number two Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon
\nseem likely to earn one point as they have an easy contest
\nagainst Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen.<\/p>\n
Second pair Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung are much more
\npowerful compared to Danish new duo Martin Lundgaard Hansen and
\nLars Paaske.<\/p>\n
Separately, South Korean team manager Kwon Seung-taik said:
\n"We hope our team can perform better in the next match against
\nDenmark. The key remains on our two doubles. If one of our three
\nsingles win, it means we win the group. There's no doubt on the
\ndoubles."<\/p>\n
"Our two singles -- Shon is only 19 while Lee is 21 -- are
\nstill very young and they will possibly lose to the more
\nexperienced Danish players. However, I expect them to learn
\nvaluable lessons from the Danes."<\/p>\n
On another court, host and runner-up Malaysia, which has just
\nrecovered from a shocking defeat, must overwhelm India 5-0 to be
\nable to reach the semifinals.<\/p>\n
In the team's line up, Malaysia is likely to field the same
\nplayers except for the second singles. Old hand Ong Ewe Hock, who
\nwas blamed as being the cause of the loss, is likely to be
\nreplaced by Yong Hock Kin.<\/p>\n
Low profile<\/p>\n
In the Uber Cup match, Sweden was, once again, is downplaying
\nits chances of beating Korea in the purple group round-robin
\nmatch. It only wants to avoid a crushing defeat .<\/p>\n
Coach Atik Djauhari expected a better fight compared to the
\nway his team played against China Friday.<\/p>\n
"We are lacking in power to beat Korea. We only hope the
\nshuttlers can put up a better fight. This is a good experience
\nfor our players, specially since we are without Marina
\n(Andrievskaya) and Jenny (Karlsson) who are absent due to
\ninjury," he said.<\/p>\n
With only six members in the team, Sweden is likely to field
\nMargit Borg in both singles and doubles event.<\/p>\n
"We don't have enough good players for the event. One of them
\nmust be willing to play twice and we decided to field Margit two
\ntimes tomorrow."<\/p>\n
China, hoping for its seventh Uber Cup victory, is likely to
\nhave an easy match against the Netherlands. With all shuttlers in
\nthe world top five in both singles and doubles events, China has
\nnothing to worry about.<\/p>\n
As head coach Li Yongbo proclaimed: "There's no other team in
\nthe world that can beat China".<\/p>",
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