Malaysia and Indonesia set for quarter-final showdown

THE stage is set for an explosive Thomas Cup quarter-final showdown between Malaysia and defending champions Indonesia.

The Indonesians were sent to the match-up against the Malaysians when they lost to China in a tie to decide the Group A champions at the Senayan Indoor Stadium last night.

(At press time,China had taken an assailable 3-0 lead).

As the runners-up in the group, Indonesia will have to play one more tie, against New Zealand today before they take on Malaysia tomorrow for a place in the semi-finals.

Last night, China and Indonesia fielded their best line-up for the first big tie of the Finals, which began last Friday.

And the Chinese silenced the vociferous home crowd, clinching the tie in the first three matches – through world number one Lin Dan, the top doubles pair of Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng and Bao Chunlai.

The win for China gave them a direct entry to the quarter-final in the top half of the draw in the knockout stage of the championships. The Chinese will play against the winners of the playoff tie between South Africa and Japan in the quarter-finals and against South Korea or Thailand for a place in the final.

Besides Indonesia and Malaysia, the other big guns in the other half of the draw are the Danes.

The 21-year-old Lin Dan lived up to his billing as the world number one, beating Sony Dwi Kuncoro 17-16. 15-3.

Lin Dan, who also beat the young Indonesian en route to winning the All-England title in March thus extended his record against Sony to 4-1.

The hard smashing and speedy Cai Yun-Haifeng overcame a strong challenge from Luluk Hadiyanto-Yulianto Alven to win 15-9, 15-10 for China's second point.

The two young pairs battled neck and neck in the second game before the Chinese pulled away at 10-10 to secure victory.

Taufik Hidayat had the task to save the tie for Indonesia. But it was al over for Indonesia when he put up a feeble challenge against Chunlai, losing 13-15, 6-15.

Malaysian singles coach Misbun Sidek, who was at the stadium watching the proceedings, said that his team were prepared to face any opponent.

He added that China and Indonesia obviously wanted to avoid an early meeting with Malaysia.

“If we had lost to Thailand, we will not see them fielding their strongest line-up,” he siad.

“As for Malaysia, we are ready to play against Indonesia. We will think about the strategy. The pressure is now on Indonesia. They cannot afford to fail at home.”

RESULTS:

THOMAS CUP

Group A: China bt Indonesia 5-0 (Lin Dan bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro 17-16, 15-3; Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng bt Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto 15-9, 15-10; Bao Chunlai bt Taufik Hidayat 15-13, 15-6; Sang Yang-Zheng Bo bt Candra Wijaya-Trikus Hariyanto 15-13, 2-15, 15-11; Xia Xuanze bt Simon Santoso 15-11, 15-4).

Group D: Denmark bt Japan 5-0 (Peter Gade-Christensen bt Hidetaka Yamada 15-2, 15-10; Kenneth Jonassen bt Sho Sasaki 15-2, 15-10; Niels Christian Kaldau bt Toru Matsumoto 15-13, 7-15, 15-5; Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen bt Keita Masuda-Tadashi Ohtsuka 15-12, 15-9; Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen bt Shuichi Nakao-Toru Matsumoto 15-3, 15-6).

UBER CUP

Group A: China bt Holland 5-0 (Gong Ruina bt Karina De Wit 13-11, 11-5; Zhou Mi bt Judith Meulendijks 11-5, 10-13, 11-5; Xie Xingfang bt Brenda Beenhakker 11-2, 11-2; Yang Wei-Huang Sui bt Paulien van Doormalen-Eva Krab 15-0, 15-2; Wei Yili-Zhao Tingting bt Karina De Wit-Brenda Beenhakker 15-1, 15-3).

Group B: Taiwan bt Germany 4-1 (Cheng Shao-chieh lost to Xu Huaiwen 4-11, 7-11; Huang Chia-chi bt Juliane Schenk 11-6, 11-1; Huang Chia-hsin bt Nicole Grether 2-11, 11-3, 11-7; Chang Yun-ju-Yang Chia-chen bt Katrin Piotrowski-Juliane Schenk 11-15, 15-9, 15-10; Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing bt Carina Mette-Nicole Grether 15-6, 15-5).

Group D: South Korea bt Australia 5-0 (Jun Jae-youn bt Lenny Permana 11-7, 11-0; Seo Yoon-hee bt Kellie Lucas 11-2, 11-6; Lee Yun-hwa bt Luiz Tania 11-1, 11-3; Lee Hyo-jung-Hwang Yu-mi bt Kate Wilson-Smith-Jane Crabtree 15-0, 15-4; Lee Kyung-won-Kim Mi-young bt Kellie Lucas-Tania Luiz 15-8, 15-13).

TheStar

FULL STRETCH: China’s Lin Dan goes down low to retrieve this shot from Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the first singles of the Group A Thomas Cup tie at the Senayan Stadium last night. Lin Dan won 17-16, 15-3.