Indians surrender to Danes

By Prakash Padukone

KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 12. As expected India went down tamely to Denmark in their opening encounter of the Thomas Cup tie at Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur on Friday evening. They had a tough time against the formidable Danes in both singles and doubles and could not offer much of a resistance losing the tie 0-5.

Much was expected from the National champion Gopichand, but his opponent World No.1 Peter Gade was in irresistable form and did not give the indian the slightest chance to get into the match. He scored a straight games victory over Gopichand conceeding only 1 and 6 points in the two games. There was nothing much Gopi could do on this day and Peter Gade just outclassed him in all departments of the game. This was Gopi's third straight loss to Gade in the last two years.

In the second match Vijaydeep Singh and Markose Bristow were no match for the Danish pair of Hansen and Lars Paaske and lost in straight games. Nikhil Kanetkar committed far too many errors on the baseline playing the first game from the side which was with the wind in his match against Hoyer Larsen. He was more comfortable in the second and there were a few more rallies than the first. But Nikhil was not consistent enough to trouble the tall Dane and could score only 7 points in the second. On the whole Hoyer Larsen was certainly not at his best and Nikhil could have given a much better fight.

The second doubles combination of Jaseel Ismail and George Thomas could do no better than their compatriots and lost in straight games 5-15,5-15 in 32minutes to Jesper Larsen and Jens Eriksen. The Indian pair was too defensive and could not match the speed and strength of the strongly built Danes.

Siddharth Jain playing third singles against World No.9 Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark was the most impressive Indian player on view,not because he scored the maximum points but mainly because of the way he played his natural game. He was not shy to clear the bird to the baseline and wait for the right opportunity to smash. He made his opponent run all over the court and made him earn the points. That was the major difference between Siddharth and the other two singles players--Gopi and Nikhil. Siddharth ran neck to neck with Jonassen in the first game and could have even won it with a bit of luck. He lost 16-17 after leading 15-14 at one stage.

The Indian could not keep pace with the Dane in the second, but still managed to score 9 points. Siddharth, however, needs to improve his smashes in the long run. Over the last couple of years he has developed a fairly good hit but does not use it often enough. He tends to use more of the half smashes. For his game to be more effective at the highest level,a judicious mix of half smashes and smashes at the right time is quite crucial. If he can develop this trait early, he can do even better internationally.

At the time of going to the press Korea had taken a surprising 2- 1 lead over hosts Malaysia by winning the first doubles and second singles. The Koreans have a slight edge in the second doubles and if they are able to wrap it up, they would have created the first big upset of the tournament.

A jampacked stadium saw in disbelief when Malaysian No.1 and World No.4 Wong Choong Hann was extended to three games by the not so highly ranked Korean No.1 Shon Seng Mo Wong won the opening game comfortably but seemed to come under pressure in the second and lost the game tamely. With the crowd supporting him fully Wong regained his confidence in the decider and won the third to put Malaysia 1-0 ahead. Both players served low most of the time and were scared to serve high; Wong scored repeatedly with his cross court smashes from his forehand; once the Korean took the lead Wong came under pressure and made too many errors at the net.

The Korean was just two points away from scoring a crucial victory but he could not keep his cool. The Malaysian seized the opportunity and staged a great comeback from 9-13 to pip the Korean at the post. The match lasted nearly 90 minutes and the constant shouting and cheering from the capacity crowd did effect the concentration of the players on the adjoining three courts. But that is modern day badminton for you and one has to learn to live with it.

Korea restored parity in the first doubles when their top doubles pair of Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon demolished the top Malaysian pair Lee Wang Wah and Choong Tan Fook in two games. Kim and Ha lived upto their reputation and were just too good for the Malaysians.

In the next match Ong Ewe Hock, currently ranked No.17th in the world, suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Lee Hyun Li of Korea in three games. The south paw Lee was very impressive this evening and showed all the qualities of a champion in the making. He had impressed me with his style and approach at New Delhi as well. One can hope to hear a lot from this youngster in the years to come.

It was indeed a pleasure to see a packed stadium on the second day of the event itself-an unusual sight in badminton atleast. One can well imagine what it will be like if Malaysia manages to make it to the last 4 stage and then to the finals on the 21st.

China routed Sweden 5-0 in the Uber Cup tournament.

The results:

Thomas Cup: Denmark bt India 5-0 (Peter Gade Bt P.Gopichand 15-1, 15-6; L.Hansen And L.Paaske Bt Markose Bristow And Vijaydeep Singh 15-6, 15-4; Poul Erik Hoyer-larsen Bt Nikhil Kanetkar 15- 6,15-7; Jesper Larsen And Jens Eriksen Bt George Thomas And Jaseel Ismail 15-5, 15-5; Kenneth Jonassen Bt Siddharth Jain 17- 16, 15-9).

Uber Cup: China Bt Sweden 5-0 (Gong Zhichao Bt Margit Borg 11- 7,11-1; Dai Yun Bt Karolina Ericsson 11-3,11-0; Ruina Gong Bt Sara Persson 11-1,11-4; Gu Jun And Ge Fei Bt J.Persson And A.Lundin 15-0, 15-2; Huang Nanyan And Yang Wei Bt J.Holgersson And S.Persson 15-3, 15-1).

Korea Bt Netherlands 5-0 (Kim Ji Hyun Bt Judith M. 4- 11,11-4,11- 9; Lee Kyung Won Bt Karina De Wit 11-1,11-3; Lee Hyo Jung And Y.K.Jin Bt Nicole And Lotte 15-5,15-11; Kim Kyeung Ran Bt L.Janssen 11-3,11-5; Lee And Chung Bt Carolien And Betty 15- 2,15-0).

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