|
Stadium Badminton Kuala Lumpur
3 1/2 Mile Jalan Cheras
56000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+60) 3 92845421
Fax: (+60) 3 92843251
Email: bac@badmintonasia.org
For court booking call:
Tel: (+60) 3 92849576
|
|
 |
A COOL START TO THE 2010 THOMAS-UBER CUPS
It was literally a ‘walk-in-the-park’ for ranked teams on the opening day of the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Kuala Lumpur last night. Except for one tie - Japan against Germany - in the Uber Cup competition where Juliane Schenk took the opening point against Eriko Kirose, every other tie finished in a white wash.
The first day’s play gave little indication of the possibility of any unexpected surprise developing in the group matches which will be completed tomorrow. Early indications are that the more fancied teams like China. Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Denmark are set to dominate in both the Thomas and Uber Cups.
But then again, surprises cannot be altogether discounted. For instance the Thomas Cup tie tonight between Indonesia and India could develop into something exciting. The 13-time champions are not in the same league as their predecessors. There are obvious weaknesses in the team set-up that India could well exploit.
The Poland-Germany match in Thomas Cup and the Russia-Germany tie in the Uber Cup could finish close, providing the early excitement to the tournament that will really come alive once the preliminary group matches are completed tomorrow.
The Nigerians did not arrive in Kuala Lumpur in time for their opening tie against host Malaysia, reportedly due to flight delay. They are expected to be on court later today to play Japan.
The sideline news is that China can field its time-tested doubles pairing of Fu Haifeng & Cai Yun as its No. 1 pair in the competition. Earlier it had been believed that Fu & Cai will have to be second to Guo Zhengdong & Xu Chen in the Chinese lineup because of their international ranking. This new confirmation came from Badminton World Federation yesterday.
Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat was not very kind with his words about the venue of play – the courts at the Putra Stadium. According to a report, conditions “were more conducive to flying kites than playing badminton!” There must have been a serious draft that affected his play when he took on Australian Jeff Tho who he still beat 21-12, 21-12!
Games are being played in two sessions. The first set of two Thomas and two Uber Cup matches begin at 12.00 in the afternoon while the second starts at 6.00pm.
RESULTS OF FIRST DAY’S TIES
Thomas Cup
Indonesia beat Australia 5-0
China beat Peru 5-0
Malaysia beat Nigeria (w/o) 5-0
Denmark beat Poland 5-0
Uber Cup
Indonesia beat Australia 5-0
Japan beat Germany 4-1
China beat USA 5-0
Korea beat South Africa 5-0
TODAY’S MATCHES
Thomas Cup
Indonesia vs India
Korea vs Peru
Germany vs Poland
Japan vs Nigeria
Uber Cup
Denmark vs Australia
Russia vs Germany
Malaysia vs United States
India vs South Africa
|
|
|
|
All copyright of Badminton Asia. ©2006 No unauthorised use of contents from this website.
|