Denmark, China self-assured of Thomas Cup spot
Denmark, China self-assured of Thomas Cup spot
By Primastuti Handayani
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Denmark and China are quietly confident of
their chances of winning the Thomas and Uber Cup championships at
the Putra Indoor Stadium here.
Danish men's singles Peter Gade Christensen said on Tuesday
that his team had a chance, despite the fact that Indonesia and
China were favorites.
"If everybody is playing really well, we have a better than
ever chance. We have the spirit from the beginning. We can lose
to South Korea and Malaysia in the group's round-robin stage. But
if we play to our maximum ability we can beat Korea," he said
after a training session.
Denmark will field Gade Christensen, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen,
Kenneth Jonasson and Anders Boesen in the singles event and
Martin Lundgaard Hansen, Lars Paaske, Jesper Larsen, Jens
Eriksen, Michael Sogaard and Jim Laugesen in the doubles.
They will play India on May 12, South Korea on May 14 and
runner-up Malaysia on May 16.
"Most of us have experience competing in Asia. Only Anders and
Lars are the new members of the team. It's very important to have
experienced players in these championships," said the 22-year-old
shuttler who joined the team in 1996.
Speaking on the possibility of meeting defending champions
Indonesia, Gade Christensen said Indonesia had the best chance to
win the yellow group, with China following them in second place.
"Indonesia can win both doubles and one of the singles.
Although it will be difficult, singles Hendrawan and Taufik
(Hidayat) each have chances to win."
"On the contrary, Chinese players are very young and not used
to this type of situation. Xia (Xuanze) and Ji (Xinpeng) are
playing for the first time and I think it will be very difficult
for them to handle the pressure."
"Maybe they can handle the pressure better in the individual
events but it could be difficult for them. But Sun (Jun) is a
very experienced player and could trouble others."
Another Danish singles Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen said his team
must defeat India 5-0 in the round-robin match.
"We must win 5-0 against India to avoid point difference
counting if we tie with another country," said the 1996 Olympics
champion.
"We may not qualify for the semifinals as Korea has a very
strong doubles team and its first singles have got stronger. They
could capture one of the single tickets to the semifinals."
"Malaysia has a home crowd behind them and they are equal in
both their singles and doubles teams."
Underdogs
Chinese men's singles coach Tong Sin Fu said on Tuesday that
he still had no idea of his young shuttlers form in a team event.
"I still don't know because we haven't played yet. Let's just
wait and see at the match."
China will face defending champion Indonesia in the yellow
group on May 16. On May 11 China will meet England and Indonesia
will take on Sweden. On May 13, China will face Sweden and
Indonesia plays England.
"If we look at the Thomas Cup record, Indonesia remains a
favorite. Despite their poor individual tournament results,
Indonesia has an advantage as its shuttlers can place themselves
as underdogs. But as a team, Indonesia is the seeded one while we
are underdogs," said Tong, who formerly coached the Indonesian
national team.
"Our first singles Xia plays a similar game as Hendrawan. They
both are very tough. While second singles Ji has never met Taufik
before."
"Of course we have Sun but he has yet to fully recover from
his injury. We have to see our team's position in the
championships. If necessary, we will have to field Sun."
Sun injured his right leg when competing in the Thomas Cup
qualifying round in New Delhi in February.
The Badminton Association of China's press officer, Bao Tong,
admitted his team was not a favorite.
"Our young players must be technically and mentally on top
form as they have never been in this situation before. It's
really difficult to predict. But if we are strong enough, I think
the home crowd here won't be a problem for us. However, it
depends on which team we are facing at the time."