Thomas Cup: A Korean enigma

Malaysia will be in big trouble if South Korea take the Thomas Cup Finals seriously.
Former international Cheah Soon Kit said South Korea have better depth compared to Malaysia “but their success will depend very much on whether they want to go all out to win their first team title”.
Soon Kit says it would not surprise him if the Koreans treat the Finals in Wuhan from May 20-27 as a warm-up to the London Olympics.

Dangerous: South Korea’s second–ranked singles player Shon Wan–ho will be a big threat in Wuhan.

“South Korea have never won the Thomas Cup, but that has never bothered them. In fact, they don’t seem too keen to end the drought,” said Soon Kit, a member of the 1992 Thomas Cup winning team.
“I have observed that the Koreans don’t show the same kind of aggression that Indonesia, Malaysia, Denmark and China do in the Cup.
“In South Korea, gold medallists at the Olympic Games and Asian Games are assured a lifetime pension. And whenever the Finals are in the same year as the Olympics or Asiad, they tend to give little focus to the Thomas Cup.”
Soon Kit believes that if South Korea decide to have a real crack at the team title, then they would surely be the favourites to beat Malaysia.

“Overall, Malaysia are good at winning only one point through Lee Chong Wei, who is a better overall player than the Koreans’ aging top shuttler Lee Hyun-il. It will be tough for Malaysia in all the others ties,” said Soon Kit.

Besides Chong Wei, the others in the Malaysian team are Liew Daren, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Chong Wei Feng, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem and Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong.
The other singles players in the South Korean team are reigning India Open champion Shon Wan-ho, Hong Ji-hoon and Lee Dong-keun. But all eyes will be on their impressive doubles line-up of Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong and Kim Sa-rang-Kim Ki-jung.
Soon Kit expects South Korea to have a slight psychological edge following Wan-ho’s win over Chong Wei in the India Open final.
“Wan-ho will be oozing with confidence when he takes on Daren and I’m inclined to give the Koreans a sure point here,” he said.
“South Korea are very strong in the men’s doubles.
“Their first and second pairs have impressive records against our top pair of Koo-Tan. Our second pair have not beaten Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong before. The odds are surely against them.
“I think a move to scratch our doubles players will only further dilute our strength. The coaches must think wisely before making any decision to field a surprise line-up.”
On Hafiz’s chances against either Ji-hoon or Dong-keun, Soon Kit said: “Hafiz probably has a chance of winning but do you think the tie will come to the decider? If Malaysia’s doubles turn saviours then, maybe, we can hope for Hafiz to turn the tie around for us.”
Malaysia did well to beat South Korea at the Thomas Cup qualifying round in Macau in February, but it was against a team without the services of Jae-sung and Park Sung-hwan because of injuries.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong did well to beat Sung-hyun-Yeon-sung for the first time in seven meetings but it will be an uphill task against Yong-dae-Jae-sung. The Malaysians have only beaten Yong-dae-Jae-sung twice in 14 meetings.
Courtesy of The Star