BY RAJES PAUL

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have been seeded third for the Thomas Cup Finals and they could draw defending champions Indonesia in their group.

The seedings for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, which will be held in Jakarta from May 7-16, were decided by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) yesterday. And Indonesia were not among the seeded teams to head the four-group preliminary round competitions.

The seedings were decided based on the world rankings of players at Feb 26. For the Thomas Cup, China are the top seeds ahead of Denmark, Malaysia and South Korea.

Indonesia are the joint fifth-eighth seeds together with Japan, Thailand and Germany.

The top two seeds, China and Denmark, will be placed in Group A and D respectively while a draw will determine the positions of Malaysia and South Korea in either Group B or C.

A draw will also determine the groups for the fifth-eighth seeds and also for the joint ninth-12th seeds.

The Finals have been expanded from eight to 12 teams for both the Thomas and Uber Cup competitions.

Previously, the preliminary rounds were played in two groups with the top two making the crossover semi-finals.

This time, none of the teams will be eliminated after the group ties.

The group winners get a direct entry to the quarter-finals. The other four quarter-finalists will be decided in crossover playoffs among the second and third placed teams of the groups in the order of A versus B and C versus D.

Coach Rashid Sidek hoped that Malaysia would not draw either Indonesia or Thailand.

“Indonesia will be out to stretch their record of five consecutive Thomas Cup victories. They are playing at home and, backed by a very volatile crowd, it makes them even more difficult to beat.

“It's also better if we do not draw Thailand,” he said.

“It's important to finish as group winners to get a direct entry to the quarter-finals. Otherwise, we will have to play one more tie to get in.”

“Even if we lose one of the group ties, we can still proceed to the next (knockout) stage. But it is important that we finish as group champions and assure ourselves of a place in the quarter-finals, instead of playing the additional tie,” said Rashid.

For the Uber Cup, Malaysia, who will be in the Finals for the first time on merit, are among the ninth-12th seeds. It will be difficult for the Malaysian women to get among the quarter-finalists.

The seeded teams in the four groups for the Uber Cup are China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The draw for the groupings of the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals will be held in Jakarta on March 12.

Okay since I've not read the rules, so I'm assuming the guy meant what he wrote as I interpret it, if so, this is such typical journalistic, inflamatory headlining that it's crud. "Third seed Malaysia may face Indonesia early" may as well read "First seed China may face Indonesia early", or "Second seed Denmark may face Indonesia early" either one should spark as many or more complaints about the rules. For the third seed to face a dark horse early isn't as big an issue as the first seed facing one, but since it's a Malaysian article ...

Originally posted by Pecheur
Okay since I've not read the rules, so I'm assuming the guy meant what he wrote as I interpret it, if so, this is such typical journalistic, inflamatory headlining that it's crud. "Third seed Malaysia may face Indonesia early" may as well read "First seed China may face Indonesia early", or "Second seed Denmark may face Indonesia early" either one should spark as many or more complaints about the rules. For the third seed to face a dark horse early isn't as big an issue as the first seed facing one, but since it's a Malaysian article ...

I think you have mistrued the article. As the article says, the top four seeded teams are in separate groups. This is done solely for the purpose of stopping them from knocking each other out or at least making it more difficult for the seeded ones.
Therefore it came as a shock that Indonesia was not seeded. Because of this, Indonesia could make life difficult for one of the four top seeded countries (which one?) to enter the quarter finals the easy way. Yes, the article could have read "second seed Denmark may face Indonesia early". There is nothing wrong about this, that is if it were to appear in a Danish newspaper instead of in a Malaysian newspaper. It would, however, be inappropriate for it to appear in a Malaysian newspaper, especially if it omits the same predicament Malaysia faces.
All newspapers are local and they reflect a concern of an early exit from the quarter finals. The same threat holds for any of the seeded countries, but it is not for Malaysia to news-highlight it, although it could speculate on such a possibility after the article on the threat to Malaysia.
Just imagine, if the Malaysian article were to read "China may face Indonesia early", the readers in Malaysia will be pissed off, when it is more appropriate for the article to read "Malaysia to face Indonesia early", as the latter is more news-worthy than some possibility that is of no immediate concern to the Malaysians.
I am sure that 5th seeded Indonesia, with their boisterous crowd, is no easy picking for even China. I am sure the top four seeded countries would like to avoid having Indonesia in their group, as it would make the journey to the quarter finals a bit more difficult.

It is a Malaysian article catered for Malaysian readers. You want to convey as much as possible from the title. The first fact is that Malaysia is seeded third. Malaysians want to know that. And the second fact is that Malaysia may face Indonesia early on (even though it's only 1/4 of a chance). Malaysians want to know that, too, given the historical rivalry between Indonesia and Malaysia. Especially given that now there are 4 groups of 3. If you are in a group with 2 other teams and one of them being Indonesia is a scary prospect. I, for one, eagerly await the draw.