Badminton: China loosen Indonesia's grip on Thomas Cup ChannelNewsAsia JAKARTA : China loosened Indonesia's 10-year grip on the Thomas Cup men's team badminton title, dousing a fiery reception to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead against the hosts. World number one Lin Dan fought back from 14-16 down in the first game to beat Sony Dwi Kuncoro 17-16 while new-look Indonesian pair Luluk Hadiyanto-Alvent Yulianto were beaten 15-9, 15-10 by second-ranked Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng. Taufik Hidayat was beaten 15-13, 15-6 by big Bao Chunlai, the world number four, just hours after the Asian champion was reportedly involved in a scuffle in the stadium carpark. The result, decided in front of a raucous sell-out crowd, leaves China with a likely quarter-final against Japan while Indonesia will have to knock out New Zealand for a last-eight place against Malaysia. "I knew the team could win in three games, so I'm not surprised at the result," said China's head coach Li Yongbo. "We have to go through a few more steps if we're going to win the Thomas Cup. I don't feel sure that we'll win it because there are so many countries that can win, like Malaysia, Denmark and South Korea." Earlier Denmark's world number six Peter Gade echoed his remarks after he led his country to a 5-0 victory over Japan. Gade, looking relaxed and confident during his 15-2, 15-10 victory over Hidetaka Yamada, said Denmark were desperate to clinch the title for the first time but that five countries were serious contenders. China's formidable squad are favourites but Gade said he was hopeful of finally putting one over on his nemesis, world number one Lin Dan, after returning from a career-threatening knee injury. "Five countries are very close - Korea, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Denmark," he said. "Everybody can beat each other and every match can be won or lost. "It's very close and it's up to the daily form but I'm sure everybody here will give our best to be on top. We've never won it and we really want it." The former world number one said he was now ready to take on Dan, the only top Chinese player he has yet to beat. "I'm very close (to top form) at the moment," he said. "I'm in very good form. "The Thomas Cup is the last event before I have a little vacation to prepare for the Olympics so hopefully I can get it up a few notches and get Lin Dan in the end." Denmark will meet the United States or Germany in the quarter-final. Meanwhile, China's women continued their march towards a fourth successive Uber Cup victory on Monday with a 5-0 defeat of the Netherlands in their final group game. A battling Dutch performance came up against a wall of Chinese players, none of whom is ranked outside the top six. World number one Gong Ruina made short work of Katrina de Wit before Zhou Mi, ranked second, needed three games to overcome Judith Meulendijks. Xie Xingfang, ranked sixth in the world, sealed the win with an 11-2, 11-2 scoreline against Brenda Beenhakker before the doubles pairs outclassed their opponents to complete the whitewash. De Wit, beaten by Gong for the fourth time, highlighted the All England champion's consistency and coolness as her great strengths. "Especially it's her consistency that makes her so good - she has some difficult matches and she is the winner most of the time," she said. The result takes the top seeds into a likely quarter-final with Malaysia while the Netherlands must knock out debutantes South Africa to progress. Taiwan saw off Germany 4-1 and South Korea beat Australia 5-0 in the other early Uber Cup matches. - AFP
