Morten Frost thinks Denmark stands little chances in Doubles event against Malaysia
The badminton legend of Denmark Morten Frost Hansen believes that national Doubles squad does not contain enough spark to burn down Malaysian challengers in Thomas Cup Finals, set to be held in Wuhan from May 20-27.
Denmark received a mix draw as he has been placed in Group C with a relatively weak contestant South Africa and an underrated country Malaysia.
They will easily overcome African shuttlers and reserve a berth in the quarter-finals of the event but they will have to stretch hard against Malaysia when they meet in group stage on May 22, 2012.
Former national coach Morten Frost predicted that Malaysia has the odds to pass this trial as they always show elevated skills in this prestigious team event but he also added that only time will tell how the wind blows and in whose favour.
He said, “The trouble with Denmark is that they sometimes underestimate the fact that Malaysia always lifts their game in the Thomas Cup. All in all, Malaysia is the favourites but you never know.”
The Danish squad includes Peter Hoeg Gade, Hans Kristian Vittinghus and Jan O Jorgensen as Men’s Singles campaigners while the Men’s Doubles department consists of top pairs like Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen and Jonas Rasmussen-Mads Conrad Petersen.
Former All-England Champion Morten Frost hoped that Singles shuttlers will pocket the best but he alarmed that Doubles teams may falter against Malaysian campaigners.
He said, “The doubles can go either way. The Danish top pair may be the favourites but Mathias is always getting very nervous. In the second doubles, Rasmussen has been playing badly lately. His partner Conrad can get edgy as well.”
Moreover, he also suggested introducing a combination of back-up shuttlers Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Jonas Rasmussen in second Doubles tie as the opposing team will not have any pre match strategy against the scratch pair.
Morten said, “I reckon Denmark may field a scratch partnership of Fischer-Rasmussen (two most experienced doubles players) to bolster their chances against Malaysia’s in the second doubles.”
This group stage match is crucial for both countries and if they end this preliminary round as winner they will enter in knock out round as seeded contestant which means relatively an easy draw in final stage.
Apart from these two countries, China, Korea, Japan and Indonesia are the prominent contenders in Thomas Cup Finals 2012.
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