Star Sports Onlnie Danes say they have overtaken Malaysians BY RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The Danes no longer have fear playing against the Malaysian badminton doubles pairs. In fact they are now looking at ending the Asian domination in the Thomas Cup Finals and Athens Olympics next year. Danish assistant national coach Jan Joergensen said yesterday that their pairs had moved one step ahead of the Malaysians. But he conceded that the Koreans had the best combinations followed by those from Indonesia. “But if Indonesia split their top pair of Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto for good, we have the better overall strength than them,” said Joergensen. In this week's Indonesian Open at the Batam Island, Candra will pair up with Halim Haryanto while Sigit wilL forge a partnership with Tri Kusharyanto. The Danes have given the Indonesian Open a skip for security reasons. Joergensen is now in Malaysia with 17 players and they have made the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here as their base to prepare for the Malaysian Open, which will be played in Kota Kinabalu next week. Joergensen has every reason to feel proud of his men's double players. At the World Championships in Birmingham early this month, Jonas Rasmussen-Lars Paaske defeated the 1997 winners Candra-Sigit in the final. In the Singapore Open, which ended last Sunday, Martin Lundgaard Hansen-Jens Eriksen defeated Rasmussen-Paaske to take the title. “The standard of our men's doubles is very high. We did not expect Jonas and Lars to win the world title. And at the Singapore Open, we had another pair beating them. Our players are getting better and better,” said Joergensen, who is in charge of the doubles players. On the strength of the Malaysians, he said: “Choong (Tan Fook)-Lee (Wan Wah) did well in the Singapore Open.” Taan Fook-Wan Wah were beaten in three gameS by Rasmussen-Paaske in the semi-finals. “That's their best game I have seen so far. They were fast against Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian (Tan Fook-Wan Wah beat the Indonesia-born England pair in the quarter-finals),” said Joergensen. “But Chan (Chong Ming)-Chew (Choon Eng) are slower and they are not that strong. Our pairs have to be more cautious when they play against Choong-Lee.” Joergensen said that the decision to split their pairs two years ago had brought success. “We were criticised for splitting the pairs. But we were aware that if we were to compete with the Asians, we have to be fast at the front and the back,” he said. “We paired up players who were equally fast. We changed our more defensive style to a faster attacking game. It has worked out very well.” While the men's doubles pairs had hogged the limelight, Joergensen said that he was also pleased with the commitment showed by the men's singles players. “We have several good players who are very competitive. They bring the best out of each other,” he said. On the chances of his team in the Malaysian Open, Joergensen said: “We hope our players will do their best. It will be good to have our men's doubles pair in the final again.” Lundgaard Hansen-Eriksen have returned home and the Danes will bank on Rasmussen-Paaske for honours. Among the men's singles players for the Malaysian Open are Peter Gade-Christensen, Peter Rasmussen and Anders Boesen. The women's chalenge will be spearheaded by Camilla Martin.
Yes, an interesting question. Didn't Camilla Martin say she would retire some time soon after the World Championships? Things may not look as good for europe's women's singles if she does, but Mia Audina is still moving up the ranks very well. gregory
As strong as their MD has become, I don't think the Danes can take TC yet. I'm also thinking that the Indonesians will be ousted at the next TC. China looks the strongest overall currently, and with the emergence of Cai/Fu and Sang/Yang, they have a much higher chance. Realistically they need only take 1 MD to be able to beat all nations by at least 3-2, as their MS is strongest overall.
Whoa! It would be interesting to read the source of this. I sincerely doubt that the Danish coach really phrased it like that. The Danes are usually not that outspoken and never provocative in media. I have seen articles like this before, being based on statements in Danish media, but then twisted and sharpened beyond recognition by some asian journalist. I think one should read this article with that in mind... Of course the Danes fear the Malaysian pairs. They know, and we all know, that in the current MD top 10, all pairs can beat eachother. Well, except perhaps for Kim/Ha who seems to need a really bad day in order to lose a match... And Denmark really needs Gade back on top before they can even start to think about a TC title...
Top form but not top ranking so that he can play third singles......... I'd go with Hugo. China and Korea are best potential bets. In fact Korea have a situation very similar to Indonesia in 96/98/00- strong men's doubles so only need to take one singles rubber. Quite bemused why they didn't use this strategy in 02 TC.
Whilst this is true, Ha seems quite injury prone recently, will he last till the next TC? Or will KDM have to find a new partner? On current form (admittedly we are a while out), if Ha plays, Korea can/should win. If Ha doesn't play, China to win.
feasible but dangerous tactics to play. TC comes right at the end of the Olympic qualifying period so from Gade's personal Olympic seeding point of view, he would want to go as high in the ranking as possible... it will be a riot if Korea grabs the TC after their SC win! but i think China's UC title will be safe for many years to come.
1. I'm not sure about this, have the Koreans ever been TC champions? 2. The UC is very much a foregone conclusion. Many countries other than China produce great players down the years in women's events - the names of Susi Susanti and Camilla Martin comes into mind, but they are just one of the seven who can put up a good fight for the team. Susi, during her heydays fear nobody, be it a Korean or Chinese, and we all know of Camilla's heroics against the Chinese in the years past. But in team events? They can win the point for the team but all four others are very much gone for good. China, their entire squad are made of players who could rule the world in badminton at any period, drawing lots on who to be the first singles for the next game and so on. And when one retires, another two would be ready to take over. Heck, I won't be surprised if their women are #1, 2 and 3 on the world rankings in singles and doubles. We are used to China vs China is most competitions nowadays, anyway. The Chinese armada is likely to dominate the UC for the next 100 years the way things look now. Their men, however, won't be having a walk in the park although the men are on a rampage over world badminton now, still, they will have the edge to beat the other members of the Big 5.
Not only is it safe, but it's also basically owned. I think the UC cup should just be kept in a safe somewhere in Beijing for at least the next 10+ years? Korea's the only UC challenge to China but even then theír WS is far too weak. Korean #1 Kim Kyeung Reung could probably be beaten by top Chinese junior WS shuttlers. Regarding SC though, I think it was a great pity China lost this year. If only China placed in Xia or Bao or Lin... I think they could have relclaimed it for 5th time in a row. Really, all 5 of China's top MS can beat any Korean MS at any given time. Just look at Chen Yu(#5 on Chinese squad) beating Lee HI (#1 on Korean squad) Chen Hong was experiencing the "downpoint" of his world rank 1 era at that time and I think his loss was the crucial turning point for Korea to take SC. Back to Denmark's resurgence and competiveness in TC; They lack consistent MS players to compliment their improving MD. Their overall MS capabilities can be said to be "good", but not really great enough to challenge China's. In a hypothetical battle, if China's top 5 MS took on Denmark's top 5, I think it would be easily 4-1 if not 5-0 for the red team. Aside from PG and KJ there's not too much depth behind the Danish squad. And even PG and KJ can't be fully counted on to cash in matches (just look at PG vs Sony at WC '03). But of all 5 power house nations, I still think that Korea's chance for TC is lowest! Their MS is hardly considered strong and Yoo and Ha have tendancies to get injured. Looking at last TC held in Guang Zhou, Korea didn't even make semis, and was beaten by China 4-1 in round robin, even though China's MD was much inferior compared to now.
I for one actually agree with Denmark's statements.Don't think journalists twisted words, Badminton can never be the same without Denmark's participation whatever politics/economics are involved. I believe Denmark have done their homework well and are always developing and moving, that;s why they are still around when england, Japan , India etc have faded.
Possible only if Shon and Lee are in tip-top condition (and I mean TIP-TOP) and if Lee/Yoo don't drop that valuable point. I would think that Kim/Ha is the only reliable MD pair even though Korea is supposed to have two good pairs. When Kim/Ha play, I can almost close my eyes and know that they're going to win. But with Lee/Yoo, I'll be on the edge of my chair and biting my fingernails and praying to God that they don't screw up somehow. SC was different becoz XD is Korea's for taking (no offense to Chinese fans) and I think Lee HI was in good form at that point of time. It may just be me, but Lee HI seems like the kind of player whom you can tell is gonna win or lose just from the way he walks into the court. That match against Chen Yu during the Singapore Open, he just looked so.... I don't even know how to put it... and I swear I was rooting for him the whole time but deep down inside, I just knew he was going to lose. As for Lee/Yoo, this SC was also the first time they have lived up to expectations by winning their MD match after losing it at the decisive moment for the past 3 SCs. Must have been a relieve to them.
