Denmark and China ready to make badminton history
COPENHAGEN (JP): Denmark and China are ready to make history in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships semifinals at Brondby Hall on Friday.
Denmark wants to fulfill its ambition to reach the Sudirman Cup final for the first time since the championships was first staged in 1989, while China aims to make a hat trick of etching its name in history as the first country to win the trophy three times.
The Sudirman Cup was won by host Indonesia in 1989 and then by Korea in 1991 and 1993 and China in 1995 and 1997.
Denmark is optimistic of overcoming underdog Indonesia, which lost to China 2-3 in the Group B round-robin match, in the reverse semifinals. China seems to be too strong for the 10-man Korean squad.
Denmark team manager Thomas Lund said after his team's victory on Wednesday that Denmark hoped to reach the final for the first time.
"We hope to qualify for the final for the first time. We beat Indonesia two years ago and I think we can do it again this time. We are ready to make history," he said. But Lund declined to name the team's line-up.
Denmark will meet Indonesia in the semifinals at 6 p.m. local time (11 p.m. West Indonesia Time). The match will be aired live by RCTI.
Host Denmark will rely on world number one Peter Gade Christensen, who will most likely meet Indonesia's Hendrawan. The 26-year-old world number eight defeated the 22-year-old Dane in the 1998 Singapore Open and in a friendly match between Indonesia and Denmark in March.
"I still don't know if I will play in the semifinals but I will be prepared," said Hendrawan.
Indonesia's deputy team manager, Christian Hadinata, said Indonesian men's singles, whoever he was, would have a chance to beat Gade Christensen.
"Denmark wouldn't gamble fielding players who have not played in the round-robin. It will be Peter Gade instead of Poul-Erik (Hoyer-Larsen) who will play tomorrow," he said.
In the women's singles, world number three Camilla Martin will most likely not need to sweat to win over Cindana, world ranked 11.
Indonesia has another chance to steal one point with the men's doubles Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan. The world number three duo will most likely meet Danish pair Jens Erikssen and Jesper Larsen, number five in the world.
"The men's doubles event belong to us. We cannot lose points from this sector," Christian said.
Confident
In the women's doubles, the Danish partnerships of Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard will most likely contribute another point to their country's tally in their match against Indonesia's Deyana Lomban and Indarti Issoliana.
"Psychologically, Denmark's women's doubles will feel more confident after defeating the Korean duo, who are the strongest pair in the world," Christian said.
The key point is likely to be the mixed doubles of Indonesia's Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur against archrival Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen.
Christian said: "Tri and Minarti have solid teamwork compared to the partnerships of Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana. They have more stroke variations and strategy on the court."
However, Christian said the chance of stealing points from Denmark would also depend on the order of play.
Lund warned the Indonesian team, saying it would not only have to face the national team but also the home crowd.
"We hope spectators' support will boost our players fighting spirit," he said.
Dark horse
In another semifinal, defending champion China will take on dark horse South Korea.
Chinese world number two Sun Jun will most likely triumph over Korea's inexperienced Ahn Jae-chang in the men's singles. In the women's singles, Chinese Ye Zhaoying will be too strong for Korean Kim Ji-hyun.
Korea has a chance to win the men's doubles as Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon, world number 10, are more solid and faster than Chinese Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun.
In the women's doubles, world champion Ge Fei and Gu Jun will have a tight match against Korea's Ra Kyung-min and Chung Jae- hee, the All England winner.
Korea's All England champions Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min will most likely win one point from Liu Yong and Ge Fei.
China's head coach, Li Yongbo, said he would arrange his team's line-up for the semifinals after Thursday's training.
While the Badminton Association of Korea's international affairs official, Han Won-joo, said Korea would only have a big chance to win the men's doubles, but they must work harder to steal points from the women's and mixed doubles. (yan)