Singles fire China bid
News 12:34 PM
PETALING JAYA: The men's singles will be the pride of China in the Thomas Cup Finals.
They have three Olympians in their side – Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin. And China are certainly the team to beat for the top contenders – Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Denmark – in the Final, which begin on Sunday in Jakarta.
Although their men's doubles department has improved, China's hopes of winning the Cup for the seventh time hinge heavily on the strength of their singles players.
Based on current rankings, Lin Dan, Chunlai and Chen Jin are the favourites and the trios are determined to put China on the right track as far as their preparations for the Olympic Games in Beijing are concerned.
Chen Yu is their reserve men's singles player but he is unlikely to be fielded in crucial ties.
China have named three pairs – Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, Guo Zhengdong-Xie Zhongbo and He Hanbin-Shen Ye. But only the former world champions and All-England winners Cai Yun-Haifeng have the better shots at contributing a point.
Third seeds Malaysia may meet China in the semi-finals if they finish as the winners in Group B, which also has South Korea and England. But if Malaysia end up as group runners-up, they can only meet China in the final. That would require them to eliminate Indonesia in the quarter-finals and Denmark in the semi-finals.
National singles coach Misbun Sidek said that it would be a blow for top seeds and defending champions China if their singles players crumbled in Jakarta.
“It is all a matter of prestige for China in the Finals. They have showed the world their greatness in the men's singles by qualifying a maximum of three players for the Beijing Olympics. They get the chance again to boast of their strength in the singles in the Thomas Cup,” he said.
“China have strong doubles pairs too but we can take them on. It is still an open game as far as the fights in the doubles are concerned. But China are good to win a tie from the singles matches. Probably, the point their rivals can steal is the second singles (against Chunlai).”
At the 2002 Finals in Guangzhou, Chunlai turned out to be China's weak link. He was beaten by Mohd Hafiz Hashim in the second singles and Malaysia went on to win the semi-final tie 3-1.
However, China came back strongly to win the Cup in the last two editions in Jakarta (2004) and Tokyo (2006).
Hafiz will be making his fourth trip to the Finals and his team-mates are Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif.
On paper, Malaysia's chances of beating China are slim but Misbun said that it was not an impossible task.
“It is all about playing a psychological game. Malaysia may be rated lower in world rankings or skills but I believe that team spirit and self-believe could make the difference for,” he said.
“We have to hope for both our doubles to win and get the singles to steal a point. The hope may be on Chong Wei but it will not easy for him against Lin Dan.
“I think that Choong Hann and Hafiz can get the better of their opponents if they really put their hearts into it. They did well in the ABC (Asian Championships) last month and I hope that they have not raised false hopes.”
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