PROTON-BWF THOMAS & UBER CUP FINALS 2010:
News 3:40 PM
Japan stunned hosts Malaysia 3-2 in a Group B tie at Putra Stadium on Tuesday and were rewarded with a kind draw which gives them a chance of reaching their first ever Thomas Cup final on Sunday.
The Japanese came back from two matches down to upset the hosts and their victory ensured they were seeded for the quarter-finals.
In the draw which was conducted immediately after the last tie of the day, Japan will meet Germany in the quarter-finals and the winners of the India-Indonesia tie in the semi-finals.
The top half of the draw sees defending champions China facing South Korea in the quarter-finals and the winners of the Denmark-Malaysia tie in the last four.
Japan's head coach Park Joo-bong was delighted with the draw, but said he is not taking anything for granted.
"Our target was to qualify for the semi-finals and we now stand a real chance of doing so. However, I will not get carried away as Germany won't roll over," said Joo-bong.
"I have to admit Lady Luck smiled on Japan today as our main rivals are all in the top half of the draw. It will be interesting to see China, South Korea, Denmark and Malaysia fight for a place not just in the semi-finals, but also the final."
Asked if the draw paved the way for Japan to reach their first ever Thomas Cup final, Joo-bong, who was clearly in a jovial mood, said: "I do not want to think that far. I said from the beginning that we are the dark horses of the tournament and my view hasn't changed.
"Anything can happen in the knock-out stage. Today, we were not expected to beat Malaysia but we did it so, I'm not getting carried away."
In the Uber Cup, five-times winners Japan will meet Germany in the quarter-finals with the winners taking on either India or Indonesia. The top half of the draw pits China versus India and Malaysia against Indonesia.
"Once again, we have a comfortable draw. Of all the runners-up teams we could have faced, I wanted to avoid Malaysia," said Joo-bong.
"Japan won the Uber Cup for the fifth and last time in 1981. It has been a long time but with China in the fray, it is going to be hard. But, reaching the semi-finals is a real possibility."
THOMAS CUP DRAW
China vs South Korea (2pm)
Denmark vs Malaysia (6pm)
Germany vs Japan (6pm)
India vs Indonesia (2pm)
UBER CUP DRAW
China vs India (6pm)
Indonesia v Malaysia (2pm)
Denmark Japan (2pm)
Russia vs South Korea (6pm)
EVENING RESULTS
THOMAS CUP
GROUP B
Malaysia 2 Japan 3 (Lee Chong Wei bt Kenichi Tago 21-12, 21-13; Koo Kean Keat-Tan Boon Heong bt Noriyasu Hirata-Hirokatsu Hashimoto 21-13, 21-17; Wong Choong Hann lost Sho Sasaki 17-21, 18-21; Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif lost Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno 15-21, 12-21; Mohd Hafiz Hashim lost Shoji Sato 10-21, 21-14, 18-21)
GROUP C
Denmark 4 Germany 1 (Peter Gade bt Marc Zwiebler 21-12, 21-7; Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe bt Peter Kaesbauer-Oliver Roth 21-8, 21-13; Jan Ø Jørgensen lost Dieter Domke 19-21, 17-21; Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen bt Ingo Kinderwater-Johannes Schoettler 21-13 21-15; Joachim Persson bt Fabian Hammes 21-3 21-12)
UBER CUP
GROUP A
China 5 Malaysia 0 (Wang Yihan bt Sanatasah Saniru 21-11, 21-8; Ma Jin-Wang Xiaoli bt Goh Liu Ying-Ng Hui Ling 21-8, 21-10; Wang Xin bt Tee Jing Yee 21-12, 21-5; Du Jing-Yu Yang bt Woon Khee Wei-Vivian Hoo 21-9, 21-9; Jiang Yanjiao bt Sonia Cheah 21-15, 21-13)
GROUP D
South Korea 4 India 1 (Bae Seung-hee lost Saina Nehwal 22-20, 18-21, 17-21; Lee Hyo-jung-Kim Min-jung bt Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-11, 21-13; Sung Ji-hyun bt Adit Muttatkar 21-23, 21-11, 21-14; Lee Kyung-won-Ha Jung-eun bt Shruti Kurian-Aparna Balan 21-13, 21-11; Lee Yun-hwa bt Sayali Ghokale 21-10, 19-21, 21-12)
In the draw which was conducted immediately after the last tie of the day, Japan will meet Germany in the quarter-finals and the winners of the India-Indonesia tie in the semi-finals.
The top half of the draw sees defending champions China facing South Korea in the quarter-finals and the winners of the Denmark-Malaysia tie in the last four.
Japan's head coach Park Joo-bong was delighted with the draw, but said he is not taking anything for granted.
"Our target was to qualify for the semi-finals and we now stand a real chance of doing so. However, I will not get carried away as Germany won't roll over," said Joo-bong.
"I have to admit Lady Luck smiled on Japan today as our main rivals are all in the top half of the draw. It will be interesting to see China, South Korea, Denmark and Malaysia fight for a place not just in the semi-finals, but also the final."
Asked if the draw paved the way for Japan to reach their first ever Thomas Cup final, Joo-bong, who was clearly in a jovial mood, said: "I do not want to think that far. I said from the beginning that we are the dark horses of the tournament and my view hasn't changed.
"Anything can happen in the knock-out stage. Today, we were not expected to beat Malaysia but we did it so, I'm not getting carried away."
In the Uber Cup, five-times winners Japan will meet Germany in the quarter-finals with the winners taking on either India or Indonesia. The top half of the draw pits China versus India and Malaysia against Indonesia.
"Once again, we have a comfortable draw. Of all the runners-up teams we could have faced, I wanted to avoid Malaysia," said Joo-bong.
"Japan won the Uber Cup for the fifth and last time in 1981. It has been a long time but with China in the fray, it is going to be hard. But, reaching the semi-finals is a real possibility."
THOMAS CUP DRAW
China vs South Korea (2pm)
Denmark vs Malaysia (6pm)
Germany vs Japan (6pm)
India vs Indonesia (2pm)
UBER CUP DRAW
China vs India (6pm)
Indonesia v Malaysia (2pm)
Denmark Japan (2pm)
Russia vs South Korea (6pm)
EVENING RESULTS
THOMAS CUP
GROUP B
Malaysia 2 Japan 3 (Lee Chong Wei bt Kenichi Tago 21-12, 21-13; Koo Kean Keat-Tan Boon Heong bt Noriyasu Hirata-Hirokatsu Hashimoto 21-13, 21-17; Wong Choong Hann lost Sho Sasaki 17-21, 18-21; Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif lost Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno 15-21, 12-21; Mohd Hafiz Hashim lost Shoji Sato 10-21, 21-14, 18-21)
GROUP C
Denmark 4 Germany 1 (Peter Gade bt Marc Zwiebler 21-12, 21-7; Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe bt Peter Kaesbauer-Oliver Roth 21-8, 21-13; Jan Ø Jørgensen lost Dieter Domke 19-21, 17-21; Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen bt Ingo Kinderwater-Johannes Schoettler 21-13 21-15; Joachim Persson bt Fabian Hammes 21-3 21-12)
UBER CUP
GROUP A
China 5 Malaysia 0 (Wang Yihan bt Sanatasah Saniru 21-11, 21-8; Ma Jin-Wang Xiaoli bt Goh Liu Ying-Ng Hui Ling 21-8, 21-10; Wang Xin bt Tee Jing Yee 21-12, 21-5; Du Jing-Yu Yang bt Woon Khee Wei-Vivian Hoo 21-9, 21-9; Jiang Yanjiao bt Sonia Cheah 21-15, 21-13)
GROUP D
South Korea 4 India 1 (Bae Seung-hee lost Saina Nehwal 22-20, 18-21, 17-21; Lee Hyo-jung-Kim Min-jung bt Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-11, 21-13; Sung Ji-hyun bt Adit Muttatkar 21-23, 21-11, 21-14; Lee Kyung-won-Ha Jung-eun bt Shruti Kurian-Aparna Balan 21-13, 21-11; Lee Yun-hwa bt Sayali Ghokale 21-10, 19-21, 21-12)
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 3:40 PM.
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