2008 and 2002 IMHO, CHN in 2008 is a bit like INA in 2002, at the end of its domination, but still overall a bit stronger than competitors.
Minor... ..correction. The Thomas and Uber Cups were held in Sendai and Tokyo, Japan, 2 yrs ago. For those interested, here's a link to the history of the Thomas Cup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cup ..in a similar way, INA's TC squad is also nearing the end of its domination, this yr.
In 2000, Denmark is strongest, but lost to INA's superior spirit. The same spirit that brought Malaysia victory in 1992. In '82, China overturned a 3-1 deficit against a superior Indonesia. The heroes? Han Jian and one not so well known CHN pair (Sun Zhian/Yao Ximing). Never underestimate spirit, magic can still happen. To Indonesia, other teams ....... or even China, they could be behind 0-2 to eventually win the tie.
Don't think so. INA was obviously stronger in two MDs, and the 3 MSs are at the same level as the DEN MSs.
Interestingly, CHN has never won TC at homeground (CHN and HKG). Btw, beat1 [biːt] verb — past tense beat; past participle ˈbeaten.
You are entitled to your opinion .... I am entitled to being there myself. INA MD vs DEN MD > INA has edge, but Candra/Sigit lost. Maybe Sigit was too fanciful. INA MS vs DEN MS > DEN has edge, but only Gade won in a hard battle. Taufik levelled, and Kenneth unexpectedly failed against Marleve Mainaky. Now that, is spirit at work! Come to think of it, Simon almost managed to force Peter Rasmussen to rubber games in 2004, but failed. Momentum might have shifted if Simon took the 2nd game.
experience won the day on that occassion. simon just didn't cope with the pressure as well and left himself too much to do in the end. it was a really difficult position to be in for one so young.
There is this talk in Malaysian newspapers that the Malaysia vs Korea matchup might be a dud. Reason being the path to final is easier thru the bottom draw (with Indonesia and Denmark) than thru the top draw (great wall in semis). Having seen a few dud matches myself, the most glaring of which was the INA vs CHN group match in 1992, I hope both countries will give their all. If you wanna win the cup, you have to beat every obstacle anyway.
Yeah, abedeng, the news article is in the news thread. A few of us were thinking, what if both countries try to give way. The matches would go hmmm awkwardly...shots out one side, then out the other side. Samuel also mentioned Korea might be thinking of losing to both Msia & England in order to avoid Indonesia in QF. So... it's either avoid Indonesia or avoid China, Indonesia, China, Indonesia, CHina.......Well....China's LYB is master at strategy..
This is why I think the current format just doesn't make any sense. Team can lose all the group matches and still advance to the next round..... Wtheck??? What makes KOR think the Danish oldies is easier to handle than INA anyway? They could very well lose the first 2 MS and both of the DEN veteran pairs can win against either KOR pairings.
Looking at the coach's comments, what he is actually saying is "If we lose to Korea, it's not the end of the world". In short, reducing the pressure on the players. But it is better not to strategize to lose. And I agree with the comment, 3rd placed finishers should not have a chance to proceed. Period.
Although I never understand how come Marleve can play 1st single in 2002, I think he is at the same level as Jonassen. Can you explain why KJ's loss is "unexpected"? I am not very familiar with the ranking situation in 2000. After INA vs. DEN in 2004, I saw somewhere that SS gave up 1st game so that he can have "stamina edge" in the following two. The problem is, he gave it up too easily without tiring PR up... This time I think SS can do some real damage. On paper he is only weaker than CJ as 3rd MS. I think he has good chance beating CJ should they meet, and I believe Hendrawan has the same thought too...
