The 2008 Thomas Cup badminton tournament has lived up to its reputation of bringing thrilling matches to the world. Tomorrow’s championship battle between defending champion China against the upcoming badminton stars of Korea may be history in the making. China is seeking their third straight Thomas Cup crown while Korea is hoping to make history by bringing their first ever Thomas Cup title to Korea.
Yesterday’s semi-finals match up between China and Malaysia lived up to its hype as surprising victories were secured by both teams. The two teams battled each other neck to neck to the end. Malaysia started very hot behind Lee Chong Wei’s stunning victory over the world number 1 Lin Dan. Malaysia’s dynamic duo, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong could not get their groove together against the very fired up China men’s doubles team of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. Mohd Fairuzizuan Tazari and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latiff saved Malaysia’s men’s doubles by snatching a surprising victory over Guo Zhengdong and Xie Zhongbo of China. In the end, China’s men’s singles players Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin proved too strong for the Malaysian singles shuttlers Wong Choong Hann and Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.
The semi-finals match between host Indonesia and the persistent Korean team had a very surprising result. The Indonesians came into the match as the strong favorites but the hungry Koreans changed the game. Park Sung-Hwan started Korea’s strong rally by defeating world number 6 Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia. Korea’s upcoming men’s doubles stars Jung Jae-Sung and Lee Yong-Dae continued their winning ways by shocking the Indonesian powerhouse Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan. Lee Hyun-Il of Korea completed the surprising upset by defeating the Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.
Tomorrow’s Thomas Cup Finals is a battle between the very strong team of China and the young, talented and hungry shuttlers of Korea. China went to the tournament with just one mission – to defend their crown and capture their third straight Thomas cup title. The Koreans, on the other end, went to the extreme length of intentionally avoiding a clash with China going into the quarterfinals. In the end, Korea’s strategy worked. They are in the Finals. Will China remain the most dominant force in World badminton? Or will the upcoming shuttlers of Korea finally put a mark in the World badminton scene by upsetting the defending champs and capturing their first ever Thomas Cup crown?
