Indon shy away from the favourites’ tag

By RAJES PAUL of Star Online. (thestar.com.my)

PETALING JAYA: Indonesia look vulnerable indeed in the defence of the Thomas Cup. They do not have a side as formidable as before for the Finals, which will be played in Guangzhou from May 9-19.

The seven-point, best-of-five games scoring format, which will be used in the world team badminton championships for the first time, will make the task even tougher for the 12-time champions.

Indonesia will be gunning for their fifth straight victory. They have only failed to enter the final twice since making their debut in the championships in 1957. They were beaten by Malaysia in the semi-finals in 1988 and 1990.

Their national singles coach, Joko Suprianto, said it would be a big challenge for them to defend the title under the 7x5 format.

“We cannot declare ourselves as favourites anymore. China, South Korea and Denmark have an equally good chance to win the title,” said Joko.

“The world rankings now do not show the true strength of a player. A player ranked as low as 50 can still beat a top player. For the Finals, we may work on a good team strategy based on the players’ rankings but there is a chance it may backfire because the 7x5 format makes the game very unpredictable.

“But it is a good challenge for us to prove that we are equally good in whatever format of scoring.”

H. Hendrawan is one of the Indonesian players who has struggled under the new format. He has not won a title since the format came into force after the World Championships, which he won in Seville last May. His teammates have done better. Taufik Hidayat won the Singapore Open last August and Marleve Mainaky bagged the Swiss Open in March.

The 30-year-old Hendrawan, who played a pivotal role in Indonesia’s victory in the last two Finals, is now the third ranked player in the team behind Marleve and Taufik. Two other players ranked after Hendrawan are Budi Santoso and Rony Agustinus.

Hendrawan is expected to be a strong third singles player but his strength is suspect under the 7x5 format. The return of Taufik is a boost for the team but manager Christian Hadinata prefers not to delve on the matter.

“It is good to have Taufik but no one is greater than the other in the team. All five singles players are of equal standard and all have important roles to play,” said Christian.

Taufik, who last competed in the Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) in November, joined the Singapore BA in January. He wanted to make a comeback in the All-England (March) but his entry was blocked by the All-Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI).

But the IBF cleared Taufik to play in international tournaments after an agreement was reached between Singapore and Indonesia. Taufik competed in the Japan Open last month but lost to China’s Bao Chunlai in the third round.

Christian added that Indonesia held an advantage in the doubles. Their doubles players are Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto, Trikus Hariyanto-Bambang Suprianto and Halim Haryanto,

“The absence of Tony Gunawan has done no damage to our preparations. We still have five best doubles players. They can team up with anyone and still produce good results,” he said.

interesting article on the analysis of the Indonesian strength.

i can't help to noticed that Joko completely discredited Malaysia. he only mentioned China, Denmark and Korea as having "equally good chance" of winning.

and the fact that it was published in a Malaysian newspaper.

Not surprising Ina ignores Msia, Rudy Hartono said same thing.

In relative terms it costs 10 times money to produce a player in

Msia than Ina or China or Denmark and with so many world class

facilities and foreign coaches at all levels Msia cannot produce an

AE champion since 1966/1982.

Anyway before every T Cup tour all coaches try to down play

their chances to take off pressure from their players.Even recent

Open results are never a clear indication of their form , some

players are just peaking whilst others might be burned out.

I'm a little surprised that Christian mentions Denmark as a contender.

Without Gade, the Danish team does not seem to me to stand a chance. OK, Rasmussen could surprise us all and Boesen and Jonassen are not inadequate players.. but they still do not seem to be able to match the chinese and indonesian singles.. it seems a little more open in the doubles.. where Eriksen/Lundgaard have surprised me a little with their current strength.

Nevertheless.. it will be interesting.. and the expextations from a Danish point of view certainly are not as big as they have been in previous years..

Whereas China and Indonesia seem to be the most important contenders..

My impression from the article above is therefore, that Christian is extremely eager to keep the Indonesian's expectations at the absolut minimum...

Also, I agree with KWUN that it is peculiar that the Malaysians are not mentioned - and that the article was published in Malaysia.

Beware of Rasmussen

MALAYSIA are rated as one of the teams with a realistic chance of winning the Thomas Cup. They are the second seeds. The other contenders in the eight-team tournament are defending champions Indonesia, top seeds China, South Korea and Denmark. Beginning today, we take a look at how Malaysia measure up against the top contenders. We start with Denmark.
By JAMES WONG

DENMARK are seen as the weakest among the team with a realistic chance of winning the Thomas Cup but Malaysia will need to look out for Peter Rasmussen, who will be the key player for the Danes in the absence of Peter Gade-Christensen.

Christensen is out with a knee injury but Denmark can count on a resurgent Rasmussen, the newly-crowned European champion, to snatch a point in the third singles.

Their first singles player, Kenneth Jonassen, and their first doubles pair, Martin Lundgaard Hansen-Jens Eriksen, are also good bets to win points in a tie, which is decided over three singles and two doubles matches.

Rasmussen is seen as the joker in the Danish pack in his country’s quest to win the Cup for the first time.

He was an unseeded player in the recent European Championships in Malmo but went on to claim the title, beating Jonassen in the final.

The 1997 world champion has seen his ranking dropped to 110th after a series of injuries over the past year but his heady run in Malmo has definitely boosted the Danish morale.

Malaysia and Denmark are in different groups and can only meet from the semi-final stage.

In the last Finals in Kuala Lumpur in 2000, Malaysia were beaten 2-3 by Denmark in Group A. Malaysia, who also lost to South Korea, failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

In Guangzhou, Malaysia, who last won the Cup in 1992, will be bidding to win the world men’s team title for the sixth time. Malaysia definitely have a good chance to make it to the final if Denmark stand in their way in the penultimate tie.

Malaysia hold the upper hand in terms of having higher ranked players in the world standings but they cannot afford any slip-up against the Danes. The top ranked Malaysian singles, Wong Choong Hann, who is the world number five, holds a clean slate against Jonassen.

He was the winner in all three encounters, the most recent at the invitational Copenhagen Masters last December.Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng, who are now ranked number one in the world, will shoulder the responsibility of having to deliver. The top-ranked Danish pair are Lundgaard-Eriksen but the Danes are versatile to forge strong combinations to take their opponents by surprise.

In the second singles, veteran Ong Ewe Hock, currently at world number nine, is good for another point.

The second ranked Dane is Anders Boesen, who reached the semi-finals of the recent European Championships to raise his world ranking to 15th.

Ewe Hock was the winner in his one previous meeting against Boesen in the third round of the 2000 Malaysian Open.

The injury to Lee Wan Wah diluted Malaysia’s strength in the second doubles. But he is expected to be fit to partner Choong Tan Fook for crucial ties. The Malaysians, who are ranked 15th in the world, can expect to play against Jonas Rasmussen-Lars Paaske, who are now the world number nine.

In a tie against Denmark, Malaysia are expected to field the experienced Roslin Hashim at third singles. If the tie comes down to the wire, Roslin will start as the underdog against Rasmussen.

Roslin, who had a brief stint as the world number one last year, has seen his form dip this year.

He suffered early exits in the All-England and in the defence of his Swiss and Japan Open titles, he was also eliminated in the early rounds.

The poor run saw him slipped to 31st in the world rankings and he is behind brother Mohd Hafiz and Lee Tsuen Seng in the Malaysia pecking order.

The record shows that Roslin and Rasmussen have played against each other fourth times and the score is even. But the statistics will not be of much help because they last met in the Hong Kong Open in 1998.

The Koreans are very strong this year.

In fact, I expect the final to be Korea vs China/Malaysia/Indonesia.

Denmark is expected to be bundled out in group stage.

Personally I think that Korea will bag the title.

On the Denmark note, I think they have the potential to create some upset. As already mentioned, their doubles are pretty strong (especially Eriksen/Lundgaard-Hansen who are capable of beating anyone, well, on a good day at least) and both Jonassen and Boesen seem to be in pretty good shape for the singles. And after having watched Peter Rasmussen in the European Championships, I would say that he is not far away from his old form -- and he played with a smile on his face, loving every minute of his return to the court. So watch out for Rasmussen, I say... but of course, the Danes would have been stronger with Gade aboard!

China probably has the strongest singles lineup IMHO but the other 3 nations probably have stronger and more consistent doubles. If Zhang Jun/Zhang Wei can pull through their match, then China's chance of bagging the title is ever increasing. We know they have the skills and ability, they just have to relax and make less unforced errors. Malaysia has a strong doubles lineup but their singles haven't been as strong as of late. When was the last time Wong or Ong won a grand prix title? The last singles title won by a Malaysian was at the 2001 Japan Open when Roslin took it and he is used only as a reserve this time. Indonesia is perhpas the most all-rounded team with strong singles and strong doubles. However, one can only question Hendrawan's playing in the 5x7. He hasn't won any grand prix's since his win back in the 3x15 WC. korea has two awesome doubles teams and a fairly decent singles lineup. Lee Hyun II will have to win his match çuz I don't think Shon and Park can beat China or Indonesia's 2nd and third singles.
Now, on to Demark. They have capable players who are able to stand up with the best of the world. However, Peter's not gonna be here this time around. And can Rasmussen recover to top form after that injury? Sure, he won at the European Championships but he didn't have to face Mainaky, Xia, or Lee Hyun. Kenny Jonassen may be one of their keys to vicotry. But their chances of winning, as most people will agree, is lower than that of the other afore mentioned nations.
Finally, lets equate the final variable into this: China's homeground advantage! With their fans behind them, that must at least give them some degree of confidence and motivation.
So, who's gonna win it then? I'd pick China.
But who knows, it's still out in the open right now. Maybe things will be a little clearer next week......