New comer There will be a new comer (ENG or MAS) in the SF this time AND one of former semifinalists (KOR, INA or DEN) will be kicked out from SF for the very first time.
that is a very interesting observation. for EVERY Sudirman Cup that was held, the semifinalists have always been CHN, DEN, INA and KOR. with no exception. this time it will be different! this is not a surprise though, as DEN, INA and KOR were all drawn into group B.
the winners of this event are like the thomas cup, restricted to only 3 nations, KOR replacing MAS in this respect. i am very surprised that INA have not won it more times than just the once, considering the strength of their squad in the 90s. did they always send their full team? i'm assuming that Park Joo Bong was instrumental in winning the 91 and 93 titles, prolly collecting 2 points in each match for MD and XD.
How CHN fared in previous SC? 1989: CHN lost to KOR 2-3 in SF. The winning points came from Han Ai Ping & Yang Yang in the singles, and it lost all the doubles. 1991: CHN lost to KOR 2-3 in SF again. Tang Jiu Hong & Wu Wen Kai won the singles, and it lost all the doubles. 1993: CHN lost to INA 2-3 in SF. Two points came from Wu Wen Kai & Zhao Jian Hua/Sun Man in MS and XD. Ye Zao Ying lost to Susi Susanti in WS. 1995: CHN beat INA 3-1 in F and won the Cup for the 1st time. The winning points came from Ge Fei/Gu Jun, Ye Zao Ying & Sun Jun in WD, WS & MS. Ye Zao Ying beat Susi Susanti in WS & Sun Jun beat Heryanto Arbi in MS. 1997: CHN whitewashed KOR 5-0 in F and defended the title in style. The winning points came from Liu Yong/Ge Fei, Dong Jiong, Gong Zhi Chao, Lin Li Wen/Chen Xing Dong & Ge Fei/Gu Jun. 1999: CHN beat DEN 3-1 in F and won it 3 in a row. The winning points came from Dai Yun (bt Camilla Martin), Sun Jun (bt Peter Gade) & Yu Jin Hao/Zhang Jun in WS, MS & MD. 2001: CHN beat INA 3-1 in F and made it 4 in a row. The winning points came from Gao Ling/Huang Sui, Chen Hong (bt Hendrawan) & Gong Zhi Chao (bt Yuli) in WD, MS & WS. 2003: CHN lost to KOR 1-3 in F and KOR prevented CHN from making it 5 in a row. Gong Rui Na scored the only point in WS. Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (lost to Kim/Ra), Chen Hong (lost to Lee Hyun Ill) & Zhang Wei/Cai Yun lost in XD, MS & MD. Chen Hong was blamed for causing the defeat. 2005: CHN beat INA 3-0 in F and regained the title in commanding fashion. The winning points came from Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (bt Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir 12-15 15-5 15-8), Lin Dan (bt Taufik Hidayat 17-15 15-9) & Zhang Ning (bt Fransisca Hari S 11-1 11-7) in XD, MS & WS.
If you analyse it, you'll find KOR was a better mixed team than INA. Park Joo Bong definitely was one of the factors. During early 90s, INA XD & MD were relatively weaker than KOR so was WD. INA only had strong MS & WS such as Alan, Joko, Heryanto Arbi, Susi Susanti & Mia at that time.