Indonesia, Denmark have equal chances
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Indonesia will battle against Denmark for the last ticket to the final of the Thomas Cup championships at the Putra Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
However, both teams seem unsure of their chances, saying it will be a very open and tough match as each has its own advantage and disadvantage.
Indonesian team manager Sumaryono said on Thursday at the Mines Beach Resort and Spa that Denmark had two excellent singles players of world ranking, number one Peter Gade Christensen and number three Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, who is also the 1996 Olympics gold medalist.
"I told the squad that they are not allowed to be down 0-2 from the beginning as the second singles will have a mounting burden in the situation.
"We don't have any options in the singles as we only have Hendrawan in the first, Taufik Hidayat in the second and Marlev Mainaky in the third."
Indonesia brought along Hariyanto Arbi, who remained on the bench as a supporter due to suffering a slight hamstring injury on the second day of the team's arrival here.
"I see Hendrawan is in top form and he is quite confident. He is never afraid of his opponent and he is well prepared for the event," said Sumaryono.
Hendrawan complimented Gade Christensen. "Peter played very outstandingly here. He never gave his rival more than seven points. The odds are 55-45 for Peter, considering my loss to him at the Ipoh Masters in September.
"But this is a team event and there are lots of factors that can influence our performance. I hope I can win because the rest of the team can play in a more comfortable situation," he said.
Sumaryono said he was worried about Taufik's chances of beating Hoyer-Larsen, who will turn 35 on Sept. 20.
"I have no idea how to beat Hoyer-Larsen. He's quite old as a singles player but he has very good placings in every match. I have told Taufik's coach (Mulyo Handoyo) to prepare the player as best as possible.
"Hopefully, the presence of Taufik's parents will give him the extra motivation to give his best."
Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan are to play the first doubles. But in the second doubles, the team should have fielded a new partnerships of Antonius Budi Ariantho and Sigit Budiarto instead of 1996 Olympics champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, due to their diminishing performance.
Favorite
On the other hand, Danish head coach Kenneth Larsen played down his team's chances, saying the team was not a favorite to bring home the cup.
"On paper, we can only count on our first and second singles. But Indonesia has a benefit from their strong doubles. The chance remains on the third singles. Tomorrow will be a very tough and open match."
Hoyer-Larsen said: "I have to regain my speed in the match against Taufik. I played poorly here, especially against South Korean Lee Hyun-il, because I only had one month for training."
Denmark will place its hopes on Gade Christensen and Hoyer- Larsen. In the doubles, it will likely field Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske in the first and Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen in the second.
Eriksen and Larsen shocked South Korea in a group round-robin match by easily upsetting world number three Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sun 15-10, 15-1.
The most decisive match is likely between Marlev and Kenneth Jonassen. Just like Indonesia, Denmark will likely opt to put Anders Boesen on the bench as he has yet to play a single match during the round-robin. (yan)