China's women look set for Uber Cup

China's women look set for Uber Cup

Novan Iman Santosa and Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta

The 2004 Uber Cup final could see a lopsided match between top
seed and defending champion China against underachiever South
Korea at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium here on Saturday night.

If so, the game will be a repeat of the last Uber Cup final in
Guangzhou, China, where the host ousted Korea 3-1.

In all, China has met Korea in the final four times -- in
1988, 1990, 1992 and 2002 -- soundly beating them each time.

Aware of the odds, the Korean team was pessimistic about its
chances, even of winning a single point.

Admitting the champion would likely be too strong to beat,
team manager Kim Jung-soo hoped being the underdog would provide
his players a boost.

"We will play without burden," he said, adding that advancing
to the semifinals had already been an achievement for the team.

Assessing his players' personal strengths, Kim said Jun Jae-
yun was his best hope to steal a point from the Chinese.

In five earlier meetings with World No. 1 Gong Ruina, Jun has
never won.

The pairs in the other two singles matches won't give Korea
much hope either. While China boasts world No. 2 Zhang Ning, No.
3 Zhou Mi and No. 6 Xie Xingfang, Korea has only world No. 27 Seo
Yon-hee and No. 180 Lee Yun-hwa.

The doubles lineup also sees discouraging prospects for the
Koreans, with China's world No. 1 pairing of Yang Wei and Zhang
Jiewen, and No. 2 Gao Ling and Huang Sui poised to continue their
dominating runs.

China still has in reserve No. 4 Wei Yili and Zhao Tingting if
Gao's reported injury should prevent her from playing.

South Korea earlier had world doubles No. 3 of Ra Kyung-min
and Lee Kyung-won but Ra was forced to sit out games through
injury, leaving Lee to turn to Lee Yun-hwa.

Ra's absence has promoted the world No. 6 pair of Hwang Yu-mi
and Lee Hyo-jung to South Korea's top doubles team, followed by
Kyung-won and Yun-hwa as the second pairing.

Yang and Zhang, meanwhile, have an outstanding record, winning
all six encounters against Hwang and Lee, their last win being in
the semifinals of the Korean Open in April.

Although the odds are with China, team manager Li Yongbo
warned his players against underestimating their opponents.

"Our key to winning is to always respect our opponents and
keep identifying their weak points," he said.