Indonesia, Denmark have equal chances
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)