China and Indonesia poised for clash of Thomas Cup titans

Indonesia will get an early opportunity to assess China’s strength when they meet in the Yellow Group, which also includes England and Sweden.

China field one of their strongest sides of recent years, boasting newly-crowned All-England champion Xia Xuanze and the talented Ji Xinpeng.

That reigning World champion Sun Jun is only their third choice singles player proves China’s power.

The weak link in China’s make-up is in their untested doubles combinations unlike Indonesia’s pairing which include Chandra Wijaya and Gunawan, and the legendary Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, the 1996 Olympic champions, who are held to be in a class of their own.

Since 1970, Indonesia have won the Thomas Cup eight times while China, four times since they re-entered the international arena at the 1982 event.

The only blip in the China-Indonesia power-struggle came in 1992 when Malaysia scored an upset victory on home soil.

Whether Malaysia can repeat that triumph depends on their ability to emerge from a tricky-looking Blue Group which includes second seeds Denmark, South Korea and India.

The Malaysians have been training on sand to build up their stamina, and Korean coach Park Joo-Bong is hoping his beach boys can give the home crowd something to cheer about.

“We have a talented team, but there are so many strong teams in this competition. To win against China, Indonesia or Denmark would be a fantastic achievement,” said Park.

Meanwhile Denmark, who include World N0 1 Peter Gade and reigning Olympic singles champion Poul-Erik Hoyer, are hoping to become the first European side to lift the 52-year-old title.

Hoyer believes this could be Denmark’s year, and said the air-conditioned Putra Stadium would benefit the European charge.

“I think we have a slight chance to upset the Asians,” the 34-year-old Hoyer said.

“I think an European country like us will find it comfortable this time because we like to play under a cold atmosphere.”

Gade is also optimistic Denmark can improve on their semi-final defeat in 1998 and on their 5-0 thrashing by Indonesia in the 1996 final.

“We have experience and talent in this team. We can beat anybody when we play our best — but so can the other teams, so it all depends on how you play on the day,” he said.