Asian badminton teams to battle for spots in Thomas, Uber cups
Asian badminton teams to battle for spots in Thomas, Uber cups
Agence France-Presse Kuala Lumpur
The Asian zone qualifiers for the Thomas and Uber cups get underway Monday at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association with five places for the Thomas Cup and four spots for the Uber Cup up for grabs.
The best of Asia will be on parade to fight for a place in the inter-team event which is widely acclaimed as the world championships.
With defending champions Indonesia having booked their spot both as hosts, the fight for the remaining five place allotted to Asia under the new qualification method introduced this year will see some interesting battles.
From the draw South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and China look favored to finish top of their respective groups and make the semis with Thailand having an outside chance.
But Thailand faces an uphill task of making the final four as it has drawn China in its group and at best can hope to make it to Jakarta via the playoffs to determine the fifth team.
Much will depend on how Boonsak Polsana fares in the singles as Thailand needs to steal a point in the singles to upset the formbook when they play China.
Thailand has two formidable doubles pairs in Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas and Sudket Prapakamol-Patapol Ngernsrisuk, and one win in the three singles could well see them through at the expense of China.
China, which lost to Malaysia in the semifinals of the 2002 Thomas Cup at home, has sprung a surprise by leaving out world champion Xia Xuanze who is said to be injured.
But they have enough depth in the singles department with Chen Hong, Bao Chun Lai and Lin Dan capable of delivering the points.
For host Malaysia, getting into the semifinals and booking a spot for the Thomas Cup finals is a foregone conclusion.
However, it will face a test of character in the knockout stages as its likely semifinal opponent is South Korea, which is equally apt in the singles department as well as doubles.
In the Uber Cup, China is already through to Jakarta as defending champion and the fight for the four berths weighs heavily in favor of Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
Host Malaysia has never made it through to the final rounds on merit and that is not expected to change here in Kuala Lumpur as they have been grouped with Japan and Hong Kong.
Thomas Cup
Group A South Korea, India, Iran, Macau Group B Malaysia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Group C Japan, Singapore, Pakistan Group D China, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam
Uber Cup
Group A Japan, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Macau Group B South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam