After the draws have been made in the Thomas and Uber Cups few days ago, it is now time to look closer for each competition to see who should be the teams in a better position to win the event.

There were probably some smiles and frowned eyebrows when the draws of the Thomas and Uber were released in Tokyo few days ago, as every team had hoped to have a good draw for this event. But no matter what - and that’s the beauty of this team competition - all nations will be playing at least 3 matches : their two group matches and at least the first round of the knock out stage, which will see a direct spot in the quarter final for all the teams which have topped their group.

In this perspective, wining the group matches will be important, not only to have one day extra of rest for their players, but also to secure one of the top 4 seeding spots.

In the Thomas Cup, the toughest group should be the one with Korea and Indonesia (Group B), which are both potential winners of this event, and who will have to face each other from the very start. Which ever loses this tie and will probably finishes second (unless New Zealand pulls out a miracle win), will have to play a first round in the knock out stage against the last team of Group A. Which would mean on the other hand to leave China’s half of the draw to face probably the winner of Group D in the quarter finals, which Malaysia is favourite for. To sum it up, the loser of Korea/Indonesia in the group matches could face Malaysia in the quarter (and Denmark in the semis) if logic prevails, while the winner will probably face strongest favourites China in the upper half semi final. There might be some strategic mind games within the group matches…

A lot less strategy however, in the Group A (CHINA, INDIA, GERMANY), where India and Germany, unlikely to beat top seed China, will be fighting to avoid the group B second best team. This should lead to a tight confrontation, with India having qualified its team for the final stage for the first time in 6 years.



The group B (KOREA,INDONESIA,NEW ZEALAND), has shown above, will be a tough battle, with Lee Hyun Il who could be facing Taufik Hidayat as one of the best appetizers in the competition held in Sendai for the first rounds. The doubles should also bring in some exciting matches between the younger generations of Indonesians and Koreans.

In Group C (DENMARK, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA), Japan could be the team to watch, with Park Joo Bong as the Chef d’Orchestre of an impressive change, impressive results, and the obvious advantage to play on home court. Their main opponents will be Denmark, who have yet to win this event (in spite of 7 finals) and who will be favourites to top this group, while South Africa will once again try to pull out some experience from this event just as in 2004 in Jakarta. Yet even if Japan finishes second of this group, the road to a quarter final could be open with a clash against the loser of group D (Malaysia, England, USA).

Group D (MALAYSIA, ENGLAND, USA) will also be an interesting one to follow up, with Malaysians as favourites and who will try to make sure they keep their seeding spots for a direct quarter final, while England and USA could fight for a better spot. There will definitely be some rematches between England and Malaysia, who will have met most likely in the team and individual event of the Commonwealth games at the end of March. This should give an extra taste of flavour to this group.

Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach, the world champions, will be out to shine for their country and bring the experience lacked by their younger compatriots, yet they have shown any thing is possible for the American dream, especially with some average English line up in the singles event, which, on paper looks stronger than the Americans, but which still is the weak point under the Union Jack.

This draw is tricky to try to see a possible semi final line up as it will all rely on the match between Korea and Indonesia. On one hand, if the Koreans win, logic would probably mean that the semi final will be China vs Korea and Malaysia or Indonesia vs Denmark. If Indonesia wins this group tie, then the line up could be China vs Indonesia and Malaysia or Korea vs Denmark...

In the Uber Cup as well, there should be some fierce battle to contest China’s supremacy. Starting with their own group match (Group W : CHINA, CHINESE TAIPEI, USA), where the title holders are to meet Chinese Taipei’s girls, who will rely on their new jewel and World championships bronze medallist Cheng who had been a threat to some of the top Chinese in some past events. The USA will complete this group with the intention once again to gain experience and try their best to beat the shuttlers of Taiwan for a better position in the knock out stage.

The Group X (NETHERLANDS, ENGLAND, HONG KONG) couldn’t be called better as this could be the tightest of all groups, with a big question mark over who could win it. The Dutch girls, with their recent victory in the European stage could be the favourites, but England led by an impressive Gail Emms and three solid singles players could pull a bad trick on their friends, while Hong Kong also have the ability to get some attention. There should be some appealing matches in this round robin group matches with Wang Chen, Mia Audina or Yao Jie and Tracy Hallam as top single shuttlers who will all go out there to play their best to avoid finishing third in the group and potentially play Korea as soon as the quarter final.

Group Y : (Korea, Germany. Singapore)Unlike the past where the Koreans always seem a level above their usual opponents except for China thanks to their leader Ra Kyung Min, who has now retired since the last Uber Cup, this time, it will be a bit different. The hopes of Koreans will rely on their younger generation, full of talent, but yet with some quite strong opponents for this other undecided group.

Starting with Germany, whose top flight, Xu Huaiwen, is the woman in form, able to perform both in the single and doubles events. With her on her side and very solid second knives such as Schenk or Grether, Germany has a good ticket to play to top this group and avoid an early rematch against the Dutch, or even worse, a possible semi final against the Chinese. Singapore, on their side, have the experience with a strong line up in the singles and first double, which should provide all three ties with a rather uncertain result.

Group Z (JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA)Japan leads this last group with the probable best chance in many years to fight for a silver or gold medal. If the Japanese have won the most Uber Cup titles behind China, they have not been able to reach the final stage for a long time and their line up and position in this group Z could be the end of the tunnel for Joo Bong’s girls, with the probable weakest group of the four and the clear intention to top it and retain this important seed spot for a direct quarter final match far away from China.

New Zealand and South Africa however also have a good chance to avoid the biggest groups even if any of their defeat in the group will mean a tough first round in the knock off stage in the upper half of the draw.

Once again, if logic prevails - which always seem to be jeopardized by the beauty of sport, the semi final line up could be Netherlands/China and Korea/Japan...

For match schedule: http://www.yonex-tuc.com/english/schedule/index.html