Thomas Cup: Indonesia stun China to advance in Bangkok, Denmark survive Korea after epic turnaround
- China’s men fail to make the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup for only the second time since their debut in 1982, but the women’s team advance after defeating Indonesia
- Denmark stitched up a sensational turnaround against Korea from three match points down to advance through to the next stage
China failed to make the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup for only the second time since their debut in 1982, falling to Indonesia in a repeat of the last Thomas Cup final.
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who had lost all his three previous matches this week, finally showed spark in an 80-minute long opening brawl with Zhao Jun Peng, during which he missed three match points in the second game.
Both teams made key changes to their line-up heading into the match, with China opting to send Zhao to battle against Indonesia’s firebrand Ginting instead of top-ranked Lu Guangzu.
Zhao put on an epic struggle in the second set to tie the match, but his last-ditch efforts fell short in the third and lost by 21-12, 25-27 and 21-17.
In the doubles match, the combination of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Mohammad Ahsan, ranked first and second respectively in the world, proved too good for the Chinese duo Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi.