Indonesia and Malaysia set up Thomas Cup final
Indonesia and Malaysia set up Thomas Cup final
HONG KONG (Reuters): Former Danish coach Morten Frost led his
adopted Malaysia into the Thomas Cup final against holder
Indonesia after a thrilling 3-2 victory over his old team
yesterday.
Frost, who broke up with the Danish squad, beamed with delight
after the lowly-ranked Roslin Hashim beat Kenneth Jonassen in the
deciding fifth match.
Malaysia, which hired Frost after being slammed at home for
failing to reach the semis of the 1996 Thomas Cup men's team
championship, plays Indonesia tomorrow in a rematch of the 1994
final. Indonesia won that encounter 3-0, the match being halted
when celebrating fans engulfed the winning squad.
Backed by a noisy, flag-waving section of the 3,000 crowd, the
Indonesians hit top form to defeat top seed China 3-2 later
yesterday.
Denmark, finalist in 1996 under Frost, was bidding to become
the first European team to win the prestigious title but Olympic
champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen and Jonassen, the hero in its
group win over China, failed to perform.
Frost, a four time All-England champion, said that he did not
feel any regret at leading Malaysia to victory over Denmark.
"I want to win - it does not matter who I am coaching. Denmark
did not want me in the first place - we were arguing too much and
Denmark made the choice themselves (to part company)," he said.
Hoyer-Larsen, in the twilight of his career at 32, battled
bravely against the 22-year-old Yong Hock Kin but the touch of
old deserted him at crucial moments.
The impressive Peter Gade Christensen, the world number one,
opened Denmark's account with a 15-7, 15-10 win over All-England
runner-up Ong Ewe Hock but Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael
Sogaard went down in three games to Cheah Soon Kit and partner
for the day Choong Tan Fook.
Malaysia split its double duos for the semi but Yap Kim Hock,
Cheah's regular partner, did not click with Tan Kim Her and they
lost to Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen to make the team score 2-
2.
The 23-year-old Hashim, ranked 29th in the world, lost a tight
first game against Jonassen but took full advantage of his
opponent's jitters to win 15-18, 15-5, 15-8.
All-England champion Sun Jun gave China a winning start
against Indonesia when he beat former world champion Hariyanto
Arbi 17-18, 15-4, 15-1.
Olympic champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky thrashed Liu
Yong and Zhang Wei to level the scores and Hendrawan took
Indonesia into the lead with a breathtaking 15-9, 15-4 victory
over world number three Luo Yigang.
Candra Wijaya and Budiarto Sigit, the world champions, played
aggressively and well to wrap up the tie with a 15-3, 15-6
victory over a bemused Yang Ming and Yu Jinhao.
With its women team in the Uber Cup final against China today,
Indonesia has the chance to complete a hat trick of double win
and give its troubled country a jolt of pride.