| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
JAKARTA: China's highly-fancied shuttlers, led by the temperamental Lin Dan and his girlfriend Xie Xingfang, aim to reinforce their dominance at the Thomas and Uber Cups ahead of their Olympic assault.
The Chinese juggernaut looks unstoppable as it fine-tunes for gold medal glory at the Games in Beijing, although host nation Indonesia fancy their chances of an upset at the elite team championships which start here on Sunday.
China has won the past two Thomas Cups and with a side boasting world number one Lin, third-ranked Bao Chunlai and world number four Chen Jin, they are odds on to claim a third.
But they are not invincible, especially with Indonesia, which has won a record 13 Thomas Cup titles, having a boisterous home crowd behind them at the Senayan Sports Complex and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat on their team.
"The competition at this year's Thomas Cup is pretty strong, but in the singles we are confident," said Lin, who needs to be on his best behaviour after allegedly striking coach Ji Xinpeng in a temper tantrum last month.
"If we play well and make the effort then we can defend our championship. For myself, I want to play each match well and win every point for Team China."
Indonesia will be banking on Hidayat, Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso to work miracles in the singles and world doubles champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan to do their bit.
European powerhouse Denmark, the only non-Asian team with a realistic chance of winning the Thomas Cup, have Kenneth Jonassen, Peter Gade and Joachim Persson in their ranks.
In the doubles, veterans Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard and former world champions Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen fly the Danish flag.
Malaysia's challenge is headed by world number two Lee Chong Wei, with Choong Hann as the second singles and Hafiz Hashim playing third.
Their doubles coach Rexy Mainaky knows China are hot favourites, but offered Malaysia and Indonesia a glimmer of hope.
"China are very strong in the singles department and, since they are capable of winning all three points from the singles, are the team to beat," he told Malaysian media.
"But Malaysia, like Indonesia, have a 50-50 chance to tip the odds if the doubles players rise to the occasion."
The Chinese women have been unbeatable in the Uber Cup, winning it the last six times, and there is little to suggest they won't lift the trophy again on May 18.
The top-ranked Xie, world champion Zhu Lin and All England runner-up Lu Lan feature in the singles, although injured Olympic champion Zhang Ning has been dropped.
In the doubles, they are spoilt for choice with some of the best pairings in the world on hand, including Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen, Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen, and Gao Ling/Zhao Tingting.
Japan and South Korea are seen as the closest challengers, with Indonesia an outside chance.
"For sure, all of our training is aimed at the Olympic Games, so with the Uber Cup we are hoping to show our strengths," Xie said after a 45-day closed-door training camp in China.
"The closed door practise was very difficult and has left us pretty tired. This time the training competition was very strong and we did a lot of work on technical training," she added. - AFP/ac
|
