Monday’s draw in Macau for Asian zone qualifying put Indonesia in Group Y against Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and regional rival Thailand. While advancing is a safe bet, with the top two moving on, where Indonesia finishes in its group is of the utmost importance.
Eleven-time champion China is in Group W with India and Malaysia, while Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam made up Group X. Host Macau is in Group Z with Japan and Hong Kong. The top four teams from the Feb. 13-19 qualifying rounds in Macau advance to the tournament proper, from May 20 to 27 in Wuhan, China.
The Group Y runner-up faces the Group W winner. That means if Indonesia fails to win its group, it must beat China to reach the Uber Cup finals.
“We’ll have to just deal with it. On paper, it’s a tough draw, but I believe we can overcome all obstacles if we play with great determination,” Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) secretary general Yacob Rusdianto said on Monday.
While victories against Sri Lanka on Feb. 13 and Kazakhstan on Feb. 14 are likely, Thailand is a different proposition.
The Thais have come on strong in recent years, beating Indonesia 3-1 for the Southeast Asian Games women’s team gold medal last year. Their squad will likely include three-time world junior singles champion Ratchanok Inthanon, ranked 13th in the world – the highest among Southeast Asian women’s shuttlers – and world No. 14 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.
Indonesia’s highest-ranked women’s singles shutter is No. 35 Adrianti Firdasari. However, its top women’s doubles pairs — Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari, and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Anneke Feinya Agustine — are higher-ranked than their Thai peers.
With each qualifying tie featuring three singles and two doubles matches, Indonesia faces a tough fight against the Thais.
“Thailand is a tough rival, but I’m optimistic that we can beat them and win the group,” said Nitya, who alongside Anneke gave the host nation its only point against Thailand in the SEA Games final.
Adrianti, who lost to Ratchanok in the women’s team gold-medal match, said she was out for revenge.
“I was suffering from an abdominal injury at the SEA Games, but now I’m ready. I’m highly motivated and will try to help the team win the group to avoid China in the quarterfinals,” she said.
China, by far the most dominant force in women’s badminton, is expected to ease into top spot in Group W.
The last time Indonesia beat China was in the 1996 Uber Cup final, which was also the last time Indonesia lifted the trophy. A loss in the qualifying quarterfinals would see Indonesia miss the Uber Cup for only the second time in its history, the first coming in 2006.
Over on the men’s side, Indonesia was drawn into Group B of Thomas Cup qualifying alongside India, Singapore and Macau. It opens against host nation Macau on Feb. 13, followed by Singapore the next day and India on Feb. 15.
The four semifinalists in Asian qualifying automatically advance to the Thomas Cup finals, while teams losing in the quarterfinals drop into a playoff for the fifth and final place.
Thomas Cup
Group A: China, Taiwan, Vietnam
Group B: Indonesia, India, Singapore, Macau
Group C: Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan
Group D: South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong
Uber Cup
Group W: China, India, Malaysia
Group X: Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam
Group Y: Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan
Group Z: Japan, Hong Kong, Macau
0 comments:
Post a Comment