CHINA SHOULD START FAVOURITE TO RETAIN THE THOMAS CUP
A body-blow might be too harsh a word to use but the feelings in Kuala Lumpur are that the Draw for the Thomas Cup organized recently by officials from the Badminton World Federation has put Malaysia on the back foot. Seeded third behind China and Indonesia, the host will be hard pressed to find a place in the Final.
The blame for this weak seeding for a nation that is home to the world top ranked players in the Singles and Doubles is a surprise. But with Thomas Cup being a team event, the final analysis in the ranking of teams is determined on the overall performance of a set of national players and not any individual player. Therein the problem, and Malaysia lost out to China and Indonesia on ranking points in this countback.
China amassed a total of 302,468.24 points and Malaysia could only manage 283,300.32 against Indonesia’s 285,002.57 points. Denmark followed fourth with 275,982.87 points.
The rest of the teams, according to their ranking confirmed at the Draw were 5-Korea, 6-Japan, 7-India, 8-Germany, 9-Poland, 1-0-Peru, 11-Nigeria, 12-Australia.
Subsequent to the Draw, the teams were placed in four groups of three each.
Group A - China, Korea, Peru
Group B - Malaysia, Japan, Nigeria
Group C – Denmark, Germany, Poland
Group D – Indonesia, India, Australia
At the close of the preliminary play-off within the groups, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
Except for Group C, where the second qualifier behind Denmark would be a toss-up between Germany and Poland, the rest of the groupings should run according to form. China and Korea from Group A, Malaysia and Japan from Group B, Indonesia and India from Group D should have little problem with Peru, Nigeria and Australia respectively.
The seeding at the quarter-final stage will be determined by world ranking positions of 6th May for the top four positions with the same date used to determine the slotting of the remaining four teams.
If performance follows form, then there is every reason to look to a China-Malaysia face-off in one semi-final. We may recall that two years ago in Jakarta, Malaysia which was also seeded third then, lost to the Chinese 2-3 at this same stage.
On current strength China stands markedly superior. Even if Lee Chong Wei is able to subdue Lin Dan, China’s second and third Singles players stand markedly superior to Malaysia’s. The Malaysian doubles pairings have been inconsistent at best and this does not support hopes of upsets against the Chinese even in this department.
But Malaysia can still turn for ‘support’ from two areas that can play decisive in certain instances – home ground advantage and spectator support. So China, though strongly favoured to win this tie, will still have to produce a strong and consistent performance to frustrate the host nation’s frail hopes.
Malaysia’s last success was in the 1992 series when it edged Indonesia 3-2 in the Final. China has won the trophy the last three seasons.
The Thomas Cup will be held concurrently with the Uber Cup competition from 9th-16th May at the Putra Stadium on the outskirts of the city of Kuala Lumpur.