Thomas Cup Finals: Park Joo-bong declares Indonesia stronger than Malaysia in Doubles event
The badminton legend of Korea Park Joo-bong is expecting Indonesia and Malaysia to meet in Thomas Cup Finals and he stated that former has edge over latter in the Men’s Doubles event.
This esteemed team event will be in full swing from May 20 and other four prominent contestants will be China, Korea, Denmark and Japan.
All teams have been divided in four groups and Indonesia and Malaysia are in Group A and C respectively.
They have chances of a clash in quarter-finals and former Olympic champion Joo-bong thinks Indonesia will enjoy an upper hand in Doubles event.
Malaysian Doubles squad includes World Number eight couple Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah while the Indonesian side consists of World Number six duo Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano and Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.
The first Double tie will see Kien Keat-Boon Heong facing Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano and the Korean maestro rated Malaysians low against their higher ranked opponents.
Joo-bong said, “It is difficult to make Koo and Tan the favourites because of their poor form. Koo-Tan have the guile and talent but the Indonesian youngsters have showed marked improvement. It could go down to the wire.”
The Indonesians have prevailed in three out of previous five meetings and they stand fair chance to fetch important point for their country.
Later in second Doubles tie, the spirited pair of V Shem-Khim Wah will test their skills against World and Olympic champions Markis-Hendra.
Joo-bong, who is also head coach of Japan, believes this segment of show will be captivating as the in-form duo lacks experience while the experienced one desperately needs good form.
He said, “The second doubles will be interesting indeed. It should pit Olympic and world champions Markis-Hendra against Khim Wah-V Shem. On paper, Markis-Hendra is the favourites but they have not been in good form.”
Meanwhile, he also added that Indonesia may field a scratch pair to stun their rivals in second Doubles encounter. He named back-up shuttler Alvent Yulianto to form partnership with Markis or Hendra.
However, Park Joo-bong predicted that Malaysian Singles line-up will bag at least two match points out of three.
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