China seeks history in Sudirman Cup

This is the first of two articles on the strength of Group A teams competing in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship in Seville, Spain, from May 28 to June 3. The Group B analysis will appear in Saturday's edition of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): Since taking possession of the Sudirman Cup from South Korea in 1995 in Lausanne, Switzerland, China has been unstoppable in winning the trophy. This year, the mighty badminton powerhouse is aiming to establish a new record by claiming the Cup for the fourth time since the event's inaugural tournament, held in 1989 in Jakarta.

China will compete against Korea and the less-powerful Sweden in the Group A round-robin matches starting on Monday.

Relying on its Olympics champions -- Ji Xinpeng in the men's singles, Gong Zhichao in the women's singles, Zhang Jun and Gao Ling in the mixed doubles and Olympics silver medalists Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei in the women's doubles -- China will face no trouble at all in cruising through to the semifinals.

Unfortunately, Ji has exhibited a declining performance since last year's Olympics -- he lost to Indian Pulella Gopichand in the All England third round and to Indonesian Rony Agustinus in the Japan Open second round.

But China has nothing to worry about, as the country still has world number five Chen Hong, who shone brightly at the Asia Cup early this month, and last year's All England champion Xia Xuanze.

In the women's singles, China has many options, including its 1999 heroine Dai Yun and world number two Zhou Mi. But world number three Gong Ruina will miss the Sudirman Cup as she is recovering from a knee injury.

China will start its campaign on Monday against underdog Sweden. The result can be easily predicted as Sweden's players are one level below the defending champion.

China also gets a scheduling advantage, as it has a day off on Tuesday, leaving Korea to combat Sweden.

New star

Korea will have a relatively easy match against Sweden as it now has a new star in world number four Lee Hyun-il in the men's singles.

Lee grabbed the limelight when he made the biggest upset in last year's Thomas Cup championship by defeating the 1996 Olympics champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen in the round-robin series.

He also managed to reach the Japan Open final before losing to Roslin Hashim of Malaysia.

But Korea is facing problems in the women's singles, especially following the retirement of Kim Ji-hyun after her runner-up result in the Korean Open early this year.

Doubles specialist Ra Kyung-min will most likely also have to play in the women's singles.

In the men's doubles, Korea has also shown weak form as its two best doubles pairs failed to achieve optimum performance in the Olympics. Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon managed to grab a silver while Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung took the bronze.

Rumors had circulated that Kim was suffering an injury which prevented him to compete in some tournaments.

Korea's strength is still in doubt as the country tends to split its doubles partnerships, including in the Asia Cup.

Indonesia's head coach Christian Hadinata said: "I think the split of Korea's doubles was the cause of their failure at the Olympics."

Korea had targeted two golds at the Olympics -- the men's doubles and the mixed doubles.

But with mounting motivation to reclaim the Sudirman Cup -- which Korea won in 1991 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and 1993 in Birmingham, England -- the country remains a dark horse.

Korea will be likely to accompany China to the semifinals.

Relegation

The group's underdog, Sweden, must save its energy in facing a relegation as it is likely to finish at the bottom of Group A.

Should Sweden fail to overcome Group's B bottom-placed team in the playoff, it will be relegated to Division 2 and replaced by the division's winner.

Division 2 is comprised of heavy favorite Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Scotland, the Ukraine and Chinese Taipei.

Malaysia is aiming to return to Division 1 after being relegated by England two years ago in Copenhagen.

Sweden will place its hope in Indonesian-born George Rimarcdi in the men's singles, boosted after he managed to reach last year's Danish Open final before losing to Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark.

In the women's singles, Sweden is putting its hope on Russian-born Marina Andrievskaya and Jenny Karlson.

The retirement of Peter Axelsson and Par-Gunnar Jonsson has reduced the country's strength in the men's doubles and mixed doubles, leaving its chance of success with the younger pairs. (yan)