The semi finals of the Thomas Cup were full of emotions and eventually saw China and Denmark as winners. They will meet on Sunday's final.

There will be an even tie between Asia and Europe in the Thomas Cup, it will be in the Uber Cup. China beat Indonesia and Denmark beat Malaysia in a thriller. The first tie of the afternoon was an appealing match between title holders China and the former title holders Indonesia, playing for the first time on neutral ground after the 2002 edition in Guangzhou and 2004 in Jakarta. Yet the stadium was quite colourful and cheers from Indonesian fans drowned out the pro-Chinese.

On court, the first match of the tie was the battle of the giants between Lin Dan and Taufik Hidayat. And it was the world number one who took the match in control after the first half of the game, when both players were even with their different style. Lin Dan was all fired up while Taufik was his usual calm and controlling self, impressive at the net, looking very confident. Yet after the Chinese took a few points lead in the first game, he sped up the gear and took the first game 21/15.

The second game was a nightmare for Taufik, who was apparently not fit enough to cope with Lin Dan's incredible stamina and power. The Chinese played a few tricky shots and often saw Taufik a few meters away from the bouncing shuttle, and it ended 21/16 - 21/8. "I just wasn't fit enough. My back was ok in the first game, but then it's just the extra training I missed to prepare for this competition. He played well and I couldn't keep up with his speed. Yet we'll meet again. I still believe that the best player in the world is the one who wins the world championships or the Olympics... until then....," said a rather relaxed Hidayat, hoping that his team mates would come up with the three remaining points.

In spite of the world number 2 tag on their shirts, formidable pair Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto was not fielded for today's match against Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. "Their performance was not so good against the Koreans, so we decided together with their coaches that it was best to field Luluk and Alven and the younger players toda," said Lius Ponggoh, national coach for Indonesia. And the Indonesian doubles did well and were points away from winning the first game, which they eventually lost 24/22 to Cai and Fu, giving a big psychological boost to the title holders. The second game was just as nice to watch with it's share of beautiful raffles shot types of rallies, but it was the Chinese who came on top for a second point given to their team. With Bao Chunlai fielded against Sony Dwi Kuncoro and statistics way against the Indonesian in their previous meetings, things didn't look that good for the latter.

And once again, it was all played in straight games. It was a close match. Bao even saved a game point in the second but focused at the right time to finish it off 24/22, leading to a victory for China 3/0 over Indonesia. "I am very proud with my players today. They all delivered and played very good matches. Lin Dan did well against Taufik, who was not at his best physically, but I still respect Indonesia very much. They are not weaker than before, just not at their best right now, that's all," said Li Yongbo, coach for China.

On his side, Ponggoh admitted his opponent's superiority. "We just have to admit that China was stronger than us today, that's all," said the Indonesian. As for his guess for the final, he said, "Maybe Malaysia could go all the way."

A few hours later, Denmark and Malaysia were entering the "badminton ring", with another top match to start with - Lee Chong Wei against Peter Gade. The match kept all its promises and the riots made by the Malaysian supporters didn't affect Gade's incredible form. After his good run in the China Masters a few weeks ago, he was undefeated in Europe and then secured the important points to reach the semi finals here in Japan. This match against Lee Chong Wei was a big test however, as the young Malaysian was also in top form.

Both players had an even start with Gade controlling the shuttles a little more in the beginning, while Lee catching up with good flat play. On few occasions, the Dane was ahead, as he wanted it to stay. "I knew I had to play my game and control the speed of the game and mostly to always keep him at a certain distance. I was able to do that and when he came back, each time, I felt quite strong about the win," said Gade.

He did look very strong mentally on important points, when for each game both players reached 18/18 and each time the Dane would took it home. "I am very, very satisfied with my game today. I have been playing well, but so has he, so it was difficult to say who would win, just like all these matches in the first singles. I am glad I could put my team on the right track and I hope that we won't have to go for a last game as it will be a tough one as both third singles play their first Thomas Cup," said the Dane.

He was probably hoping for a second point given right after by Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard. Yet in spite of their invincibility under the new scoring system which they still reject, the Danes lost for the first time this year to the fired-up pair of Koo Kien Keat and Chang Chong Ming, in a crazy match. The Malaysians started out perfectly, closing up the first game after putting a lot of pressure on their opponents at the net. The second game saw a rather odd situation, when the Umpire of the match, Mr Girish Natu gave one red card to the Malaysian player Chan, which Chan said he didn't understand.

There were complaints on each side as the players were not waiting for their opponents to be ready before serving. Warnings were given and this led to a tight end of second game where none of the teams could finish up. Denmark saved no less than 4 match points in a very intense match and finally took the second game 30/28 while Malaysians were obviously bitter about the umpire's decisions. Yet the psychological boost from winning the second game didn't have the expected impact on the third and the Danes were just drained of their energy, while Koo and Chong showed just as much fighting spirit to clinch the third easily 21/6.

"We had used too much energy in the second and we just couldn't give more in the third. It's a shame that we lost the only match in 2006 now, but we gave all we could even though we didn't play well. I think the umpire lost control of the match totally and gave warnings away because he didn't know what else to do. It's a pity that such an umpire is on the chair for such important events, but it's not what made us lose today," said a disappointed Lundgaard.

On the other hand, Koo and Chong were very happy with their win of course, putting their country back in the tie. "This victory, we owe it partly to our coach, who still trusts us in spite of our defeat against Korea," said Koo. For Chan, it could have even been quicker. "We played really well but got a bit too eager to win in the second game, this is why we lost it, but I was still confident. We badly needed this point to put Malaysia back in the tie," said Chong Ming.

Kenneth Jonassen was then up against Hafiz Hashim after Wong Choong Hann had to go back to Malaysia, for surgery to the snapped Achilles tendon - he will have to wait however until the return of the best Malaysian specialists from holiday. Both the very tall players kept the shuttle in the game for some time before attacking, which led to some long rallies - more than eight strokes per rally in average, using skill before power. At this game, the Malaysian was the best at the end of the first game, taking it 22/20. Yet the Dane didn't worry about it too much.

"I was still very confident of my game. I felt good on court, my speed was higher than his and I believe I was fitter also, even if he has some wonderful shots. Yet I knew I could come on top if I kept my game going," said the Dane. The second game went by quite quickly for Jonassen, securing an impressive 21/12 victory and quickly leading in the decider. "I tried to remain calm at the end of the match. There are times where I can show a little more but this time was different. I didn't want to lose time and energy and wanted to keep them to get more power on court" said the Dane after his final 21/17 win. "This feels great to win here for my team. Now I hope that we can deliver one point left," said the Dane, hinting that the second double would be very difficult.

He was right. Even if Boe and Mogensen did more than well, they were just too late to get started in the deciding game when the Malaysians were leading 19/16. They did get back to 20/19 and had a glimpse of hope to get even, but Choong and Lee got the last point to get the two teams squarely even... It was all on the shoulders of two youngsters, new comers to this high pressure Thomas Cup competition.

Joachim Persson at one end, and Kuan Beng Hong at the other. And the Dane was simply outstanding. He was the clear underdog, but came out as a splendid winner, using simple yet efficient shots with his magical left hand. A great defence to Kuan's stiff attacks. But he survived and led quickly one game to nothing.

Things spiced up in the second, where he led by a margin of 2 to 3 points all through out the game but when it came to a crucial ending, the whole Danish squad was up and stressed. He kept calm, making few mistakes but recovering well the following point to keep the smallest - but sufficient margin. At 20/19, he got his first match point and took the chances, winning his first great battle, leading to the qualification for his team mates, who jumped all over him.

"We knew it was a risk to take to field Persson and Kaldau could have played as well as they are both in good form. But we knew Malaysia didn't know much about Persson, that's one of the reasons we made him play, and he was up to the job," said Steen Pedersen, the head coach of Denmark. As for the final against China, the Danes are ready to take up the challenge. "We know how strong they are, but we are definitely up for the challenge. Before China had already often two points assured. This time, we can challenge them for all 5 matches. It will be an interesting tie even if they are the favourites," said Thomas Stuer Lauridsen, the other Danish coach.