JP/10/BADMIN

Malaysia takes 2-1 lead over China in Thomas Cup semis

Novan Iman Santosa The Jakarta Post Guangzhou, China

After three matches, the Malaysian badminton men's team led hosts China 2-1 in their semifinal matches at the Thomas Cup at the Tianhe Sports Center in China on Thursday.

The heated matches were marred by protests launched by the Malaysian shuttlers over poor decisions by the linesmen. Two linesmen were subsequently replaced, one in the first tie and the second in the third.

China took its first point after singles world's no.1 Xia Xuanze defeated Wong Choong Han 6-8, 8-6, 7-5, 8-6.

Wong took the first game 8-6. Entering the second game, Xia sped up for a 5-1 lead but Wong refused to give up and leveled the match at 6-6. Xia, however, finished the second game 8-6.

The left-handed Wong sped to a 4-0 lead in the third but this time Xia did the catching up, leveling the game at 5-5 before taking it out 7-5 in front of a partisan home crowd.

World number 5 Wong protested to umpire Peter Ganes of Denmark about the poor decisions of a linesman who gave an unfair advantage to Xia. The linesman was then replaced.

Both shuttlers were once again engaged in neck-and-neck play in the fourth before Xia won it 8-6.

With this win, world number 1 Xia extended his personal lead to 7-0 against world number 5 Wong.

Malaysia's first doubles team of Chan Choong Han and Chew Choon Eng, ranked number 1 in the world, equalized 1-1 in the second match, easily defeating Zhang Jun and Wang Wei 7-4, 7-5, 7-2.

The Malaysian pair also protested the linesmen's fairness in deciding whether the shuttlecock was in or out.

Muhammad Hafiz Hashim extended Malaysia's lead 2-1 when he defeated Bao Chunlai 1-7, 7-4, 8-7, 1-7, 7-5 in a tight match.

Bao took the first game easily as Hafiz was not prepared for Bao's attack. Hafiz was left 2-4 but he managed to regain his composure and closed the second game 7-4 when Bao failed to return the shuttlecock across the net.

Bao, the world number 3, rushed out to a 6-1 lead but world number 12 Hashim refused to surrender and caught up 6-6. Hashim launched another protest when his return was called out.

Keeping his emotion down, Hashim won the third game 8-7 when Bao failed to anticipate Hashim's attack. Bao was moving forward in anticipation while Hashim sent the shuttlecock behind Bao.

Supported by spectators who crowded the venue, Bao took the fourth game 7-1.

Hashim, who was dubbed "the squid hand" for his hand flexibility, was trailing again 1-5 in the decider but managed to collect points one-by-one 5-5 and finally won 7-5 giving another point to Malaysia when Bao failed to return Hashim's smash to his left.

Another linesman was also replaced following poor decisions in the third match.

Playing later in the evening, second doubles of Zhang Wei and Chen Qiqiu who meet Malaysians Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook and third singles Lin Dan who faced Malaysian Lee Tsuen Seng.

The winner of this first semifinals match will face either Denmark or Indonesia who will have their semifinals match on Friday evening. The match will be aired live by private television station Trans TV at 6:30 p.m. Jakarta time.