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RI shuttlers see smooth start at Thomas Cup
Indonesia is hoping for a smooth ride through the early rounds of the prestigious Thomas Cup men's team badminton event from May 11 to 18 here after being drawn with Thailand and Germany, away from badminton heavyweights China, Malaysia and South Korea
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Indonesia is hoping for a smooth ride through the early rounds of the prestigious Thomas Cup men's team badminton event from May 11 to 18 here after being drawn with Thailand and Germany, away from badminton heavyweights China, Malaysia and South Korea.
"This is a good start for us, but it doesn't mean that it will be easy to beat those two countries (Thailand and Germany). We should be careful of not dropping any points," Indonesia's Thomas Cup team manager Lutfi Hamid said Wednesday after the tournament's draw at a TransTV studio.
Lutfi said Thailand could prove to be a dark horse in the group, while Germany, which represents Europe together with Denmark and England, has a strong men's doubles pair that must be reckoned with.
"We will focus on how to finish No. 1 in the Group D. We will decide later what we should do to achieve the ultimate target of claiming the Cup," said the 56-year-old team manager, who also led the Indonesian squad to the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup in 1994 and 1996.
Indonesia, once a dominant force in badminton, has won the biennial Thomas Cup 13 times since 1949, including a streak from 1994 to 2002 when it kept possession of the Cup. China won the Cup in 2004 and 2006.
Top seed China is in Group A along with minnows Canada and debutant Nigeria.
Group B should be fiercely contested, with Malaysia, South Korea and England each seeking to book a spot in the next round.
The group stage will be played in round-robin format. The group winner and runner-up will advance to the knock-out stage of the Cup.
In the women's team Uber Cup, Indonesia was drawn in the same group with Japan and the Netherlands.
"I am happy with the draw as we are in the same group with seeded Japan. I think our shuttlers match up better with Japanese shuttlers than with shuttlers from other seeded countries, like China, Korea and Malaysia," said Uber Cup team manager Susy Susanti.
According to the 1992 Barcelona Olympic gold medalist, Indonesia is stronger than Japan in the doubles and about equal in the singles.
"I think our doubles have a better chance of winning. I believe that our shuttlers can deliver good results," she said.
Susy, however, warned that the Netherlands could surprise Indonesia.
"We can't underestimate the Netherlands since they are stronger than the other 'weakest' teams in each group," she said.
The Indonesian Badminton Association has set different targets for the men's and women's teams.
For the men's team, it hopes to capture the Thomas Cup, while the women have been set a more modest target of making the semifinals. Indonesia has won the Uber Cup twice, in 1994 and 1996. (ind)
Thomas Cup 2008
Group A: China, Canada, Nigeria
Group B: Malaysia, South Korea, England
Group C: Denmark, Japan, New Zealand
Group D: Indonesia, Germany, Thailand
Uber Cup 2008
Group A: China, Germany, the United States
Group B: South Korea, Hong Kong, South Africa
Group C: Malaysia, Denmark, New Zealand
Group D: Japan, Indonesia, the Netherlands
