SUDIRMAN CUP Day 5 - China bowls another maiden over as Malaysia makes maiden sail

Thursday, 14 May 2009 21:52

There will be no Europeans in the final four for the first time as Malaysia stormed into the history books on the 5th day of the 2009 Sudirman Cup after beating Denmark 3-2 to sail into their first ever Sudirman Cup semi-final. Waiting for them in the semi-final is defending champion China, who whitewashed Indonesia on the adjacent court to complete a hat-trick of 5-0 demolitions.

By Jan Lin, reporting live from Guangzhou. Photos: badmintonphoto (live)

On paper, it may have seemed all too easy for the 6-time champion to nail the elusively perfect 15-0 in the preliminary round of the 2009 Sudirman Cup but these numbers do no justice to Indonesia’s massive effort to spoil China’s party. The 2006 Sudirman Cup runners-up took the Chinese bullets for 4 hours and 29 minutes, taking 4 matches to tiebreakers, before conceding a clean sheet to the host.

In order to give ample rest for the injured Markis Kido, Indonesia had to field a scratch pair of men’s doubles, Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, as a door gift for China. China’s Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng took the 1st game 21-10 without deliberation before discovering they had no answer when Setiawan / Ahsan fought tooth and nail in the 2nd to eventually steal the game 21-19.

After 48 minutes, the Indonesians then stayed true to their word and bequeathed the Chinese the match by giving away ‘free’ points from unforced errors in the tiebreaker that ended with a score of 21-12. Indonesia’s 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Maria Kristin Yulianti was next on task. The petite world number 15 had a bright start when she silenced a nervous Wang Yihan (pictured top left) 21-16 in sheer class.

Playing in front of an incessantly supportive home crowd, the first set defeat only served to awaken the sleeping giant in the 22-year-old Chinese. Wang - who has recently been cast on several Chinese badminton TV advertisements alongside her superstar male teammates - responded to the slip with 21-5 and 21-10 scalps in the 2nd and 3rd games, making her 56 minutes on court worthwhile as it put China 2-0 up.

With the 2008 Olympic Champion Lin Dan next on the line-up, hopes were high that super Dan would do a super quick job to wrap up the tie for China. Yet Lin took close to an hour, as standing in his way was the very nimble Simon Santoso (pictured right). Imitating his compatriot Maria, Simon outclassed Lin in the first game 21-15 but was stranded in the next two to then surrender in unflattering scores of 21-14, 21-11.

Though victory was already in the bag, China’s mission of a 15-0 sweep was far from over. Lin’s fellow Olympic gold medallist in the women’s doubles, Du Jing / Yu Yang, also had to dig deep for 41 minutes before bagging the 4th point for China. The 21-15, 21-13 score line is far from a true reflection of the tenacious defence of Indonesia’s Greysia Polii / Nitya Krishinda Maheswari.

The clock had struck 11 times when the China’s Zheng Bo / Ma Jin came on court to complete the whitewash for China. Like their compatriots, the 2009 Swiss Super Series champion was forced to the depths of their reserves before they managed to seize the point for China. After 65 minutes, Zheng/Ma came on top of the taxing ordeal against Devin Lahardi Fitriawan / Lita Nurlita in scores of 22-20, 21-18, 14-21.

"I don’t think Indonesia had fielded a weaker line-up," commented China’s chief coach Li Yongbo. "Their women’s singles and doubles were their best. We’ve figured that they would play Simon instead of Sony as Lin has always had a tougher time beating Simon," said Li, "Zheng Bo and Ma Jin had beaten Nova and Liliyana at the Swiss Open 21-12, 21-13. They knew we would field them again."

Li continued, "Indonesia did their homework and we did ours, we won because we made the right speculations of their line-up. It’s the same for our semi-finals’ line-up, we will have to analyse all these details before deciding who to field…On the whole, Korea poses more of a threat to us than Malaysia but Malaysia has a fighting chance, especially in their 2 singles and men’s doubles."

Denmark’s Disaster, Malaysia’s Miracle

Denmark had come to Guangzhou without their women’s singles sensation, Tine Rasmussen, whom they were forced to leave behind as she was unfit to travel. On Wednesday, Danish men’s singles ace Peter Gade was sent to the hospital after a severe migraine attack sustained during his match against Korea’s Park Sung Hwan and was today ruled out of the tie as a health precautionary measure.

With realistically only 3 doubles to play for, the Danish did get off to a bright start through Thomas Laybourn / Kamilla Rytter Juhl’s (pictured left) disposal of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari / Wong Pei Tty in straight sets 21-17, 24-22. Their hopes were still high even after Lee Chong Wei levelled up with a 21-11, 21-18 victory over Jan O Jorgensen, but they soon came crashing along with their men’s doubles.

Denmark fielded veterans Lars Paaske / Jonas Rasmussen, who struggled to keep pace with Malaysia’s youngsters Koo Kien Keat / Tan Boon Heong and succumbed 21-9, 21-14. Being 2-1 ahead, Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo had all the confidence she needed to remove Nanna Brosolat Jensen in equally humbling scores of 21-8, 21-11 to send Malaysia through to their first ever semi-finals.

"It is very disappointing for us," said the 25-year-old Nanna Brosolat Jensen after her match. "It is difficult without Tine and Peter. There is a lot for me to improve on and I will be working hard to improve my game." On Denmark’s face-off against England in the battle for a respectable 5th placing, she said, "It will be big. I don’t know whether I will play. It depends on my condition tomorrow."

Denmark will be defending their victory over England at the European Team Championship in February this year, while England is looking to get back at their arch nemesis. Though the failure of both teams to qualify for the final four meant that for the first time in the Sudirman Cup history, there will be no European representative in the final four but an Asian clean sweep instead.

Reflecting on the instrumental men’s doubles victory, Koo Kien Keat (pictured right) said, "I think they used the wrong strategy against us today, which made it very comfortable for us."

Koo's coach Rexy Mainaky added, "We’d actually prepared for Boe and Mogensen, so we were surprised to see Paaske and Rasmussen on the line-up. So I’m pleased with how Koo and Tan dealt with this. They did well.

"I must also say that I hope all my players can learn from Denmark’s women’s doubles," Rexy continued, "because even though they had already lost the tie, the pair still fought to win a final point for Denmark." Denmark’s Kamilla Rytter Juhl / Lena Frier Kristiansen ousted the world number 1 Chin Eei Hui / Wong Pei Tty 21-11, 16-21, 21-11 to salvage a consolation point for Denmark.

"We have already met our target of reaching the semi-finals, so we are very happy and I want to congratulate all my players and coaches," said Malaysia's team manager Senator Datuk Maijol Mahap. "China will be tough. A lot will depend on the condition of our singles players on Saturday." Meanwhile, invincible India, who has dropped only 1 match throughout their 2009 Sudirman campaign, came out on top of their division 3 pool with a 3-0 victory over Bulgaria tonight.

For complete results from Day 5 of the 2009 Li Ning Sudirman Cup, please CLICK HERE.

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