Thomas Cup predictions

[libra]

Next years thomas cup promises to be one of the closest in years. With indonesia on the fall, china and malaysia on the rise, denmark still somewhere up there and korea.... well i think korea needs to improve a little.

Anyone got any predictions?

[Andrew]

Indonesia all the way...

[ray]

maybe, we first predict where thomas cup will be held :)

i think china has a really good chance to win although i want indonesia to win.

[John]

Even if Taufik remains, Indonesia's team is 'disintegrating' partly due to management problems and attractions overseas. Now Gunawan's gone, don't expect Sigit and Candra to stay put while other top players get lucrative inducements to play for other countires or coaching contracts.
Korea doesn't have a credible singles line-up in Lee and Sheung and their 2 good doubles pairs are near the end of their 'use by' tag. Will they last 6-7 months?
China's singles are easily top with juniors Bao and Lin making headway in the senior ranks to back up ChenH, Xia XS, Ji XP, ChenY and XiaoH. Malaysia's Roslin (now he's left the private camp) and Lee Tsuen Seng are maiing waves and Choong Hann should be No.3 but they are a step behind the Chinese.
The China/Malaysia doubles is about even now but the Chinese have more experience.
I'd give China 3-2 advantage maybe a bigger margin to China because the Ma'sian players are erratic.
Denmark's doubles are well above average but cannot beat the Asian ones and their No. 2/3 singles, Boesen and Jonassen are nothing if Gade doesn't win..John.

[Byro-Nenium]

i still think Indonesia should be able to walk away the champs. But this time just barely. Candra/Sigit will most probably win their match. Halim/Luluk or Bambang/Trikus will play 2nd doubles. If Bambang/Trikus play, i'm quite sure they will win their match.

As for the singles? Thats a tough 1, i'm hoping that Hendrawan will play again as Taufik may not participate. If all players participate it will be

1st Singles: Marleve Mainaky
1st Doubles: Candra/Sigit
2nd Singles: Taufik Hidayat
2nd doubles: Halim/Luluk or Bambang/Trikus
3rd singles: Hendrawan

With the exception of Taufik, everyone is put in reverse order.......

I think INA will still be able to edge out with the title!

[Byro-Nenium]

Its going to be held in Cuba if i remember correctly

[Tom]

Cuba is for the America's zone qualifiers (regional only).The actual venue for the finals has yet to be decided if my memory serves me right..

[libra]

here's my two cents worth

agreed, indonesia's team is slowly disintegrating. with hendrawan not doing so well with the new 7x5 system and taufik still an uncertainty, their singles hopes lie with marleve and the largely unexposed/untested second stringers (remember what happened to rony during the sea games?). prior to this their doubles could be depended to bring two sure points but with tony's retirement i guess one point would be lost to msot of the stronger countries.

as for malaysia, lee tsuen seng's recent win in the dutch open must surely give him that extra confidence he needs to make the jump from a 'nearly-man' into one of the bigger names. still, his inexperience in big team events puts some doubt in his recent rise. Roslin and Wong CH seem to be getting back to their best. on their doubles with chew CE and chan CM slowly coming up and if Chong TF and Lee WW can stay injury free i'd say their chances of making a decent charge at the cup are very much alive. only the inconsistency of their players can let them down - as it often does.

china should be favourites based on recent results. xia xz and chen hong are atop the recent world rankings (even though many of the top players haven't been playing much; namely taufik and peter gade). junior players like bao CL and Chen Yu are producing results and this can only be good for their chances. Their week link remain their doubles. sure they had both finalist in the recent china open but that's about the only thing they have to show in recent times. still, based on singles power along they stand a good chance of taking the cup.

denmark seem to be going through a bad patch recently. peter gade's injury problems and lack of support from Boesen and Jonassen look to have put a damper on their prospects. best they can hope for is to take #1 singles and make a fight of the rest of the matches and hopefully take two out of four.

korea look to be in the same boat at denmark. they'll probably (as always) aim to win the two doubles and hope for an upset in one of the singles. still, recent form suggest that they would have a hard time taking the two doubles ties.

[Greg]

I still think Indonesia will keep the Thomas Cup for the fifth or sixth consecutive times...

I didn't know Luluk is a male name.. :)
BTW, does anyone know whether Thomas Cup will use the new scoring system or the old one?

[John]

Now that Taufik's out your Indonesian team is made up of geriatrics. Wheelchair badminton? I do not see Indonesia doing any damage to Malaysia or China - maybe one doubles, foolstop. John.

[Yudhi]

why are u so..............?
I do not know what else to say.

[Lao Liu]

Truth hurts, doesn't it?