Top Danish shuttler says match against RI the key

JAKARTA (JP): Denmark's number one shuttler Poul-Erik Hoyer- Larsen said the match between Denmark and Indonesia would be the match which decided whether Denmark made it through to the Sudirman Cup finals.

Hoyer-Larsen told Antara in Glasgow yesterday that Denmark would do its best to beat Indonesia to win Group 1B.

"If we win the group, it will be much easier for us to overcome South Korea than China in the semifinals," he said.

But Hoyer-Larsen said Denmark was the underdog and that badminton powerhouse Indonesia had a 40 percent chance of winning the cup.

"Actually, we have a very solid team. In men's doubles, Michael Soogard/Jon Holst Christensen could beat Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky or Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto," the English-based Hoyer-Larsen said.

Denmark's women's singles player Camilla Martin has improved her performance and recently won the Chinese Taipei Open, although she has never beaten Indonesia's Susi Susanti.

"We can evaluate our progress after being groomed together in Denmark for one month," Hoyer-Larsen said.

He was optimistic Denmark could grab third place if it failed to go through to the finals.

Hoyer-Larsen said China was the favorite to win the cup because its team was at its peak.

"China will be able to retain the cup because they are very strong in the women's and mixed doubles," he said.

"The men's doubles will be won by Indonesia. The two countries' chances in the men's and women's singles are 50-50."

Denmark's team manager, Henrik Lyngbe, was talking his team up, saying it could beat Indonesia 3-2 and had a 50-50 chance of doing so.

"We're sure that we'll win because we're bringing our best team," Lyngbe said.

"Let's look at how Thomas Stuer Lauridsen beat Sweden's Rikard Magnusson. He performed very well and maybe we'll field Peter Rasmussen in the men's singles," he said. (yan)