Aarhus: The 13-time Thomas Cup champions – Indonesia, avoided a big upset with a came from behind victory over Thailand in Aarhus, Denmark on Monday.
Thailand’s World No. 18 Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Indonesia’s World No. 5 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting fought their hearts out in the first men’s singles match that lasted 88 minutes. Wangcharoen held his nerve in the decider, saving 3 match-point to beat Ginting 16-21, 24-22, 25-23 to claim the first point for his country.
Indonesia’s World No. 1 men’s pair, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo too was made to work by World No. 94 Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren before edging past the Thai pair 19-21, 21-18, 21-13 in 61 minutes to level the overall score at 1-1.
The former 3-time World Junior champion – Kunlavut Vitidsarn remained calm and collected to dominant the second men’s singles match by beating Indonesia’s World No. 7 Jonatan Christie 21-10, 21-14 to put Thailand ahead with 2-1.
In the second men’s doubles match, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia were pressuring Natthapat Trinkajee/Tanupat Viriyangkura of Thailand from start to finish to keep Indonesia’s hopes alive by beating the Thai pair 21-9, 21-12.
The third men’s singles match saw Indonesia’s World No. 19 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito kept attacking the right baseline of Thailand’s World No. 151 Adulrach Namkul in the decider. The strategy was working extremely well, and Rhustavito managed to clinch the winning point for his team in a tougher than expected challenge from Namkul. Rhustavito ultimately took care of Namkul 23-21, 21-10, 21-8 in 62 minutes.
Meanwhile, Denmark was struggling in the second Group B tie against Germany on Monday as well.
After Viktor Axelsen of Denmark easily beat Samuel Hsiao 21-9, 21-8, World No. 11 men’s doubles pair Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen lost to World No. 18 Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel of Germany narrowly with 20-22,24-26.
Then, World No. 12 Rasmus Gemke added great suspense to the tie when the Dane lost to a German player who does not have BWF ranking – Fabian Roth 19-21, 24-26 in the second men’s singles match.
Denmark’s scratch pair – Mathias Christiansen/Frederik Søgaard gave the hosts a little peace of mind when they won the second men’s doubles match over Daniel Hess/Jan Colin Völker 21-12, 21-11 before Hans-kristian Solberg Vittinghus sealed the deal by seeing off Matthias Kicklitz 21-15,21-8.
Below are the day three results of the 2020 Thomas and Uber Cup finals:
2020 Thomas Cup Results (October 11, 2021):
Thomas Cup – Group A, Indonesia vs. Thailand 3-2
Thomas Cup – Group A, Chinese Taipei vs. Algeria 5-0
Thomas Cup – Group B, Korea vs. France 4-1
Thomas Cup – Group B, Denmark vs. Germany 3-2
2020 Uber Cup Results (October 11, 2021):
Uber Cup – Group A, Indonesia vs. France 4-1
Uber Cup – Group C, Chinese Taipei vs. Tahiti 5-0
Uber Cup – Group C, Korea vs. Egypt 5-0
Uber Cup – Group A, Japan vs. Germany 5-0
Uber Cup – Group D, Malaysia vs. Canada 1-4
