Indonesia meets South Korea in Thomas semifinal today

By Arif Suryobuwono

HONG KONG (JP): South Korea may demote its best pair of Park Joo-bong and Kim Dong-moon to play the second doubles in the Thomas Cup semifinal match against Indonesia today, Indonesia's training director Iwan Setiawan speculated yesterday.

"I think the South Koreans are aware of their limited chance of beating our first doubles team of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky. Therefore, I suspect they will apply such a strategy," Iwan said.

The semifinal match pitting Indonesia and South Korea will be on RCTI live today, starting from 17.30 Western Indonesia Time. The other semifinal is between China against Denmark.

Reiterating that Indonesia and South Korea have an equal chance of victory, Iwan expressed guarded confidence that his team could at least notch a 3-2 win over Korea through his first singles, third singles and first doubles. "Generally speaking, our players are simply better than theirs."

South Korean coach Kim Jong-soo agreed with Iwan, but went on to say that he will rely on two singles players and one doubles pair, without going into details as to which players he meant.

Indonesian doubles coach Christian Hadinata dismissed Iwan's prediction, saying that it was unlikely that South Korea would try new partnerships against Indonesia.

"The new partnership of Park Joo-bong and Kim Dong-moon is clearly better than the old combination of Park and Kim Moon- soo," Christian said.

Park and Kim Moon-soo stepped down after capping their memorable streak with a gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Park, however, resumed playing internationally last year, partnering female compatriot Ra Kyung-min. The world mixed doubles number one pair are now eying an Olympic gold in Atlanta this July.

Danish coach Morten Frost Hansen joined the talk, saying that he was happy not having an early meeting with Indonesia. "Indonesia's number one pair of Ricky and Rexy are very frightening," Frost said.

When it came to speaking about the semifinal clash against China, Frost said that his team and China are all square. But he confidently added that his men have a better chance of winning the five matches.

"I'm sure the matches are going to be very close. It must be very interesting to watch," the former All-England champion said.

This was confirmed by China's team manager Li Yongbo. Li said that his second doubles pair are weaker than Denmark's.

Li added that the first singles match will be crucial as it gives a huge morale booster. "Thus the side which wins the first singles match has the better chance of wrapping up the whole rubber," he said.

Li admitted that his first singles player Dong Jiong is younger and less experienced than Denmark's top gun Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen. "But Dong has more stamina and is better built for the sport," Li said.

Frost said that his team's success in reaching the semifinals relied on playing without pressure. "We just do it. We don't think in terms of winning or losing. That's why we don't feel any pressure. On the contrary, I told my players to enjoy the game. As long as you play the best you can, then, if you lose, you can still be happy. Both winning and losing is okay for us."

Playing without pressure is not just the key to Denmark's success in getting to the semifinals. "We are keen to prove that badminton superiority does not solely belong to the Asians. We, too, are entitled to it," Frost said.

Thus far, only three countries have won the Thomas Cup: Indonesia, Malaysia and China. Indonesia has won it nine times, Malaysia five times and China four times.

Today's fixtures

Thomas Cup semifinals: Indonesia v South Korea China v Denmark