AARHUS (Denmark): Two of the most successful teams in Thomas Cup history – China and Indonesia – will battle it out for the prestigious trophy again after both sides cruised through their respective semifinal ties early today.
Reigning champions China checked into the final for the 13th time by ousting Japan 3-1 while Indonesia qualified for the final for the 20th time after eliminating hosts Denmark with the same scoreline.
This will be the sixth title showdown between the pair, with China emerging victorious in 1982, 1986 and 2010 and Indonesia winning in 1984 and 2000. Indonesia are looking to end a 19-year title drought after last lifting the trophy in 2002.
Indonesia, the most successful team in Thomas Cup history with 13 titles, kept their cool despite losing the first singles when Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and world No 2 Viktor Axelsen put the hosts 1-0 ahead by beating Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-9, 21-15.
Indonesia’s world No 1 doubles pair of Marcus Fenaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo restored parity with a hard-fought 21-13, 10-21, 21-15 win over Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
World No 7 Jonatan Christie, 24, then put Indonesia 2-1 ahead after slogging for 100 minutes to dispose of Anders Antonsen 25-23, 15-21, 21-16.
“Firstly, I would like to thank God for helping me… 100 minutes, wow! I can’t explain anymore but I just focused on one point at a time. Played the best I could and (when) I could read his game plan; I became more motivated.
“He played very fast, he is intelligent in attack. I had to slow down the rhythm and go for long rallies to win,” Jonatan said.
It was then left to Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto to seal the winning point for Indonesia when the pair brushed aside Mathias Christiansen-Frederik Sogaard 21-14, 21-14.
In the other semifinal, Japan drew first blood when China’s Shi Yu Qi, who was trailing 20-22, 5-20 against world No 1 Kento Momota, decided to retire due to injury.
Ten-time champions China, however, fought back to level the tie at 1-1 through He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong, who beat Takuro Hoki-Yuta Watanabe 21-17, 7-21, 21-16.
Twenty-one-year-old Li Shi Feng, the world No 65, then produced a stunning 21-17, 21-15 win over world No 13 Kanta Tsuneyama to put China 2-1 ahead before Liu Cheng-Wang Yi Lyu sealed the tie with a 21-11, 22-20 victory over Akira Koga-Taichi Saito.