Chinese men stop Koreans' winning spree

By Prakash Padukone

KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 18. The giant killing spree of the Koreans came to an end in the Thomas/Uber Cup final rounds at Stadium Putra, Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening when the formidable Chinese men dashed their hopes in the Thomas Cup with a narrow 3-1 victory in the first semifinal.

With this win China has entered the final for the sixth time since making its Thomas Cup debut in 1982. It now awaits the winner of the tie between Indonesia and Denmark in the final to be played on Sunday afternoon. The second semifinal will be played on Friday evening between Indonesia and Denmark.

The Koreans surprised everyone in the opening singles by moving Lee Hyun Li up to play instead of Shon Seung Mo. This meant that their No. 1 player Shon, who is ranked 33rd in the world just one place above P. Gopichand of India, had to be rested. The Koreans perhaps erred in moving up Lee. They should have sacrificed the opening game by fielding Shon Seung Mo and tried to win the second through Lee.

There were better chances of Lee beating Ji XinPeng in the second singles than Xia Xuanze in the first. But it is also possible that the Koreans thought that Ji could play the first singles again as he did against Indonesia on Tuesday and therefore moved up Lee. Perhaps the Koreans were not too keen on Lee playing either Luo Yigang or Che Hong, both of whom are far more experienced than the Korean. Otherwise I cannot think of any other reason for moving up Lee. As expected, the gamble did not pay off and the Korean lost tamely in two straight games to the reigning All-England champion Xia Xuanze 6-15, 5-15.

The Korean was too slow to react to the fast deceptive shots of the Chinese. Xia caught the Korean repeatedly at the net, especially on his forehand with his jump drop shots. Lee was totally off-colour and did not offer any resistance. He seemed stiff from his earlier matches. But that was to be expected as he had played three tough matches before this in the past one week.

Moreover, on Thursday, he was playing against a player of a different class and speed. But the Korean need not be disappointed after all for he has done his duty admirably. However, this will in no way take away the credit due to the Chinese for he had given his country the initial break-through which was expected of him.

The first doubles between Yu Jinhao-Chen Qiqiu and Kim Dong Moon- Ha Tae Kwon went the Korean way when they overcame their Chinese opponents in three well-contested games 11-15, 15- 5, 9-15. Kim and Ha, ranked No. 2 in the world behind the Indonesian combination of Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, were slow off the block and took their time to settle down.

But once they warmed up they showed their true class. From 3-7 down in the opening game they raced to 14-7 scoring 11 points before the Chinese could score their next point. Yu and Chen managed another four points before Ha and Kim wrapped up the set at 15-11.

The second game was a cake-walk for the Chinese pair who won the game for the loss of only five points. But the Korean pair bounced back after the five minute interval and played true to their potential to carve out a 15-9 victory. This win put Korea on level terms with China.

The second singles between Ji Xin Peng of China and Ahn Jae Chang of Korea proved to be a ding-dong battle all the way till 12-12 in the first game. The lead changed hands frequently until that point when the Korean seemed to run out of steam.

Ahn slowed down at that stage and could not match the speed of the Chinese. Ji Xin Peng easily inched his way past the Korean to win the next game 15-10. This victory put China in the lead for the second time in the tie.

The right-left combination of Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun provided China with a surprise three game win over the strong Korean combination of Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung in the second doubles.

The doubles victory which was achieved in 75 minutes sealed the Koreans' fate. The Koreans have thus made a valiant exit from the 2000 Thomas Cup campaign after putting up a great show. Full marks to them for having performed so creditably.

In the second semifinal Indonesia seems to have an edge over Denmark mainly because of its overall strength. Only Peter Gade looks certain to win his match again against Hendrawan. All other matches are likely to go in favour of the Indonesians. The odds are therefore heavily in favour of Indonesia.

The results: Thomas Cup (semifinals): China bt Korea 3-1 (Xia Xuanze bt Lee Hyun Li 15-6, 15-5; Yu Jinhao-Chen Qiqui lost to Kim Dong Moon-Ha Tae Kwon 11-15, 15-5, 9-15; Ji XinPeng bt Ahn Jae Chang 15-12, 15-10; Zhang Wei-Zhang Jun bt Lee Dong Soo-Yoo Yong Sung 15-9, 12-15, 15-9.

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