cool. it is around time to do some analysis and educated guessing.. to play in the TC, each country competes in 3 singles and 2 doubles events. realistically, there are only 5 countries who has a chance in it: China Denmark Indonesia Korea Malaysia what would you think the line up will be? here are some guesses: <b>China:</b> MS: Chen Hong, Xia, Lin Dan MD: Zhang/Zhang, ??? <b>Denmark:</b> MS: Peter Gade, Anders Boesen, ??? MD: Jan/Jesper, Paaske/Lundgaard <b>Indonesia:</b> MS: Marleve, Taufik, Hendrawan MD: Candra/Sigit/Halim/Tony(??) <b>Korea:<b> MS: Lee HI, Song, ??? MD: Kim/Ha, Lee/Yoo (or really? where have they been??) <b>Malaysia:</b> MS: Ong Ewe Hock, Wong Choong Han, Lee Tsuen Seng, Roslin. MD: Choong/Lee, Chan/Chew
Indonesia!!! They can win both MD. Even if they lost one MD (say to Korea Ha/Kim or China Zhangs), other teams do not have the single lineup to take two out of the three singles from Indonesia. China can for sure take one single (say Xia, the other two is doubtful) and Korea (none probably, their strongest is Lee HI). In summary, for other to win the Thomas Cup:- China needs to take all three singles Korea needs two singles and one doubles Others just don't have any chance to win three matches.
I really don't know who will win, but Indonesia seems to me to have the best chances. I do however have an additional comment to KWUN's mentioning of a possible Danish team. For singles, the team is most likely to consist of Peter Gade, Kenneth Jonassen (who was picked over Boesen for the Copenhagen Masters and did well) and Anders Boesen. Only possible dark horse in the raise seems to be former World Champion Peter Rasmussen who apparently at the moment is playing very well in practice. In doubles, the Danish constallations have changed compared to last year. It is therefore very hard to predict who will be the stronger pairs, but it seems Jesper Larsen and Jim Laugesen will be number 1 followed by either Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen, Martin Lundgaard/Jens Eriksen or Michael Soegaard with whoever he ends up with as a partner. Does that team have a chance? I doubt it, but as always - anything is possible.
I feel Indonesia is still lacking of single players except Taufik. Hendrawan has not been so impressive lately. No doubt they have the best Double in the world but the chances are still widely open if they don't buck up the singles. China has a pretty strong single line-up but unfortunately they can only rely to one double (Zhang) who are not so consistent. Korea - I don't think so is a strong contender at all. Malaysia - relatively balance in terms of single and double. In fact they have more options in MS . One of the favourite team. Denmark - I believe thay have a very strong doubles and with the support of Peter and the rest of their single, I think we cannot neglect them also. I think this year will be the most interesting Thomas cup to see. Almost every team has a chance to win it this time. But my gut feeling says that Indonesia and Malaysia will meet in the final...
I too think that Korea is out of the question. There's no beating the Indonesian doubles at the moment, but they have problems with their singles. Malaysia... well, Chew/Chan just haven't been up to par lately, neither has Wong really... Not sure about Roslin though... China... potentially a strong singles lineup, but Zhang/Zhang seem a bit shaky these days... And as Christian pointed out, we have yet to see how the new Danish doubles pairs turn out... (two of the pairs performed really well in the Copenhagen Masters, beating Zhang/Zhang and Chew/Chan). But I think Gade will go through undefeated if his knee holds up. So let's speculate about possible final scenarios: Denmark vs China: Denmark wins 3-2, takes 1 single (Gade) and both doubles. Denmark vs Indonesia: Denmark loses 2-3 or 1-4, takes 1 or 2 singles, but loses both doubles. Denmark vs Malaysia: This is a toss really, but I think Denmark takes 1 single and both doubles, thus winning 3-2. China vs Malaysia: China wins 3-2, takes 2 singles and 1 double. China vs Indonesia: Indonesia wins 3-2, taking 1 single and both doubles. Indonesia vs Malaysia: Indonesia wins 3-2, taking 1 single and both doubles. 1. Indonesia 2. Denmark 3. China 4. Malaysia This is of course based on the assumption that the new Danish pairs have solidified by then, which is maybe a bit optimistic... But hey, I admit I'm looking at this through Scandinavian eyes, so sue me! In any case, I think China is weaker than in many years...
Tough to say, its still open...... Indonesia or China would be the favourites... Followed by Malaysia
Uber Cup? China will probably win all the matches 5-0, with a slight possibility of losing one to Camilla. but that's it!
yes. i do see that Denmark and Malaysia to be strong contender here. Peter, if in good form, have a high chance to win a point for Denmark against most opponents. whereas the doubles pairs have good chance against most but the Indonesians. and Malaysia, very even field. no one player/pair really stands out, but none of them are bad either! China's head coach Li's goal this year is the Thomas Cup, they have gotten everything these past 2 years, SC, UC, WC, Olympics, but no TC in the tropic cabinet. he surely will beat the best performance out of the guys. Xia's form was lethal during the WGPF, how will he fare against Peter and Taufik? Indonesia. with Hendrawan getting old, in bad form, and having problems with 5x7, will he be a contender? Taufik ran away from PBSI and is training alone, how's that going to affect his performance? Tony is going to study abroad, PBSI ask him to play but he hasn't said "yes" yet. so will he play? Korea, yes. the weakest of all. but Korean stands up strong for the big events. this will be a great TC to watch. perhaps we will see a European winner????? has that happen before?
The only contender could be Denmark, and as Kwun says, China will win that match. Camilla could win her single, and possibly possibly one of the new Danish pairs could win a match too... but that's just not enough to seriously threat China.
yes. it is scary how overwhelming stronger the Chinese are in all the ladies disciplines. and not only that, they keep on having juniors popping up to replace the more seniors. it looks like China will be bagging the UC for many years to come.
If Indonesia wins,pigs will start to fly. They dont even have a proper singles player now after many retirement. Even the doubles of lomban and eliza is not even in the top 10 rankings.
Indonesia, the last 4 Cups... Indonesia has 12 wins, Malaysia 5, China 4. Just as a curiosity, Denmark has lost the final 6 times... but never won. My guess this year will be a repeat.
Peter Rasmussen? Hi Christian, nice to hear that Rasmussen still hasn't given up. Where did you get that information his success in practice?
Re: Peter Rasmussen? It has been reported in the Danish media and it is also something I have heard in Danish badminton circles - and by the way.. just yesterday the media reported that Peter Rasmussen has received a "wild-card" for the national championships... where he would not otherwise be qualified to participate since he has not played a tournement for more than 12 months.
