RI seeking 5th straight Thomas Cup title

RI seeking 5th straight Thomas Cup title

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Guangzhou, China

The Indonesian Thomas Cup team is ready to beat the odds in its
campaign to make history by winning the coveted trophy five times
in a row.

"It is very important for us (to win the cup). We have won the
trophy four times earlier and now it is time to make it five
times consecutively," team manager Christian Hadinata told
reporters here.

"We are ready to throw down the gauntlet," he added.

Asked whether Indonesia would seek to prevent facing host
China in the semifinals for a place in the final, Christian said
he would not be preoccupied with such a strategy.

"We are not up for it. The shuttlers will do their best
against whomever the opponent is," he said.

"We will keep focused and try to take every match."

Indonesia has twice held the Cup four times in succession,
first from 1969 to 1979 and from 1994 to the present.

In Thomas Cup history no country has hoisted the cup five
straight times, and only Indonesia has done it four times. There
are three countries which have won three straight.

Malaysia won the inaugural event in 1948 and repeated twice
more until 1955, followed by Indonesia from 1957 to 1964 and then
China from 1986 until 1992.

In total, Indonesia has won 12 of the 21 Thomas Cup contests.

Indonesia is in Group A together with new-comer Germany, arch-
rival Malaysia and Thailand. Indonesia's first opponent will be
Thailand on Friday.

Thailand looks to rely heavily on its number one singles
player, Boonsak Polsana and top doubles team of Pramotee
Teerawiwatana and Teesana Panvisvas to steal points from
Indonesia.

"We hope we can reach the semifinals but it will be very hard
as our other players are weak," Thailand's coach Udom
Luangphetcaraporn said.

"To add to our problems, Thailand lost to Malaysia at the
semifinals of the qualifying round in Melbourne, Australia. We
must work hard to be on par with Malaysia."

The next opponent for Thailand will be long-time nemesis
Malaysia on Sunday.

"The real competition in Group B is only between Indonesia and
Malaysia. Both countries have similar skills," coach Indra
Gunawan said.

"But for Malaysia, Thailand can be the dark horse to get in
the way of our campaign," he added.

Indra, who hails from Indonesia, warned other teams against
taking Indonesia lightly, although the players turned in some
relatively poor performances at the individual Grand Prix series
recently.

"Indonesia's shuttlers are quite experienced with a similar
level of skills. They also have Taufik Hidayat and Hendrawan as
their second and third singles, who could play an equally
important role for Indonesia," he said.

"With such a resource, Indonesia can easily take two points
from the singles matches. The third will probably come from their
number one doubles, Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto," he added.

Indonesia's last opponent in the qualifying round will be
newcomer Germany, which preferred a modest approach when
discussing its chances against the world's badminton powerhouses.

"It is not the time for us to compete with Indonesia and
Malaysia but we hope that we can steal one match against
Thailand," said head coach Steen Pedersen. "We are here to learn
and improve the skills of our young players."

Meanwhile, Group B has host China, Denmark, South Korea and
Sweden.