China Leads The Pack with a Good Draw

China did not need it but still the luck of the Draw had the double-champion all but assured a safe passage to the quarter-finals of the Thomas and Uber cups 2008 in Jakarta in May. Drawn in the same group as a couple of minnows in both events, the Chinese men and ladies will have the luxury of playing their round-robin first round matches with a comparative ease of mind and topping their respective groups should be a mere formality. Therein will lay the advantage for China where its quarter-final opponent will be a second placed team of a different group.

In the Thomas Cup tie, the men are drawn with Canada and Nigeria in Group A while in the Uber Cup schedule, the Chinese girls will have Germany and the United States for company in Group A as well.

But unfortunately the same element of luck did not befall the rest of the major players attempting to wrest the silverware from China this time around. In Thomas Cup action, Malaysia, one of the prime candidates to challenge China for the trophy has Korea and England for company. The English may not be a potent force but the Koreans will be a huge thorn on Malaysian aspiration. They have been as inconsistent as they have been brilliant in the various Super Series this past year. They have the ability and the quality to come out best on any given day and this should be a worrying factor to the Malaysian camp. It is will be close-call for either to top the Group B.

Group C would be another teaser with Denmark and Japan vying the group leadership. Japan is probably one of the most improved nations in badminton in recent years. Their young singles and doubles players have been well-founded by the experience of the great Korean icon Park Joo Bong and they have been pretty consistent the last one year. The outcome of this tie will be a toss-up between age and experience against youth and exuberance. New Zealand the third member of the group is not expected to play a spoiler’s role – it does not have the players capable to creating any waves against either Denmark or Japan.

Like the Chinese, host Indonesia should have scant problem in Group D against Germany and Thailand. Against the backdrop of the Senayan Stadium, the home team has too much in depth for the preliminary qualifiers from Europe and Asia.

If the Indonesian men have an easy passage to the knockout stage in the Thomas Cup series, then their ladies will have their work cut out for them in Group D of the Uber Cup draw. As host, no favours were accorded them and they ended up in a very tricky situation with Japan and the Netherlands to worry about. It would be appropriate to term it the Group of Death.
The Japanese are undoubtedly one of the most improved nations in the sport while Indonesia has no decent replacement for the likes of Susi Susanti in recent times. Therein the difference. And thrown into this cauldron is the Netherlands. We only need to look back two years to realize that the Dutch girls finished runners-up to the Chinese! And they beat Japan in the quarter-finals along the way. And while this was happening in China, the Indonesian girls were watching the proceeding on television back home in Jakarta after having failed to qualify for the Final Round!

China should enjoy a smooth ride against Germany and the United States in Group A while in Group B the inform South Korean girls may have the edge over Hong Kong though it would be disastrous for Korea to underestimate the island girls. An upset cannot be ruled out completely. South Africa, as the third nation will simply make up the number.

Wong Mew Choo and Tine Rasmussen may be the deciding factors in the final outcome of the tie between Malaysia and Denmark in Group C. The Danish lass is in excellent form and could well inspire her teammates to the group leadership. New Zealand is not expected to offer anything much in the way of reversing any decision between Malaysia and Denmark.

The rules of both the Thomas and Uber Cup competitions stipulate that winners of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals while play-offs will be conducted for the second and third placed teams from each group to determine the rest of the quarter-finalists. The Finals will take place at the Istora Senayan Stadium in Jakarta from May 11 to 18 this year.