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."