Denmark wins historic berth for Thomas Cup final

By Arif Suryobuwono

HONG KONG (JP): European champion Denmark moved forward in its bid to break Asia's grip in the badminton world when it stunned China here yesterday to advance to its first Thomas Cup final in 17 years.

Young gun Peter Rasmussen clinched Denmark's 3-2 win over four-time winner China after beating Lin Liwen 15-12, 15-3, but it was clear that world No. 3 Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen played a pivotal role in lifting the Danes to their historic victory.

Reigning All-England champion Poul-Erik dropped the first set and went down 1-13 in the second in his first-string singles match against Dong Jiong, but came back superbly to totally control the match for a 6-15, 18-17, 15-11 win.

Dong quickly soared to a match point after Poul-Erik drew level at 13-13 in the second game, but fell short of composure to finish the match.

"Luck smiles on me," the 30-year-old Dane said afterward. "It's good to have a game like that before the Olympics." Poul- Erik, who won a bronze in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, is looking ahead for his first-ever badminton laurels in Atlanta this July.

China's head coach Li Yongbo said he knew his squad would lose when Dong fell to Poul-Erik. "The line between loss and victory was decided in the first singles match. Whoever wins it, wins it for the rest of his team," he said.

But Li added that Denmark was very lucky to win the first singles match. Denmark's coach Morten-Frost Hansen quickly agreed. "Yes, we're lucky to have won it. From the beginning, I sensed that Poul could win it. That we can go to the final is a tremendous achievement for our team," Frost said.

Frost led the Danish in reaching its last Thomas Cup final in 1979, only to suffer a 0-9 demolition by reigning champion and host Indonesia.

From 1982 to 1990, Denmark has never reached the Cup final. It fell to China in either the semifinal or in the group matches.

Well-knit

China pulled ahead yesterday when its first doubles pair of Jiang Xin and Huang Zhanzhong defeated Jim Laugesen and Jon Holst Christensen 15-12, 15-7 and Sun Jun beat Thomas Stuer Lauridsen 15-5, 15-8 in the second singles match.

But a well-knit partnership of Henrik Svarrer and Michael Soogard kept Denmark's hopes alive by overcoming Ge Cheng and Tao Xiaoqiang 15-8, 17-15.

Peter, who was mobbed following his decisive win, said the key to his victory was that he played so fast that Lin failed to keep up with him.

"It was the first time I have played Lin and I had no idea what to expect. There is always pressure when you play someone for the first time, but Morten Frost spoke to me before the game and I knew exactly what I had to do to win," he said.

Li said he knew his team had no chance to win in the second doubles and third singles matches. "Our second doubles pair is still lacking experience," he said.

China's team manager Zhou Jincan said that his team's loss to Denmark was due to his players' lack of competing experience in international tournaments. "Our players are still young. They still have a lot to learn," Zhou said.

China was billed as favorite to regain the trophy after forcing title holder Indonesia to struggle hard in the opening group match last Friday. Dong upset world No. 1 Joko Suprianto and Sun toppled world champion Hariyanto Arbi, although China lost 2-3.