The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark.
In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The two now have eight career wins apiece against each other.
Two-time Olympic men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin and partner Chiu Hsiang-chieh leveled the tie, beating Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard 21-7, 22-20 in 35 minutes. Wang and Chiu are now two-and-three against the Danish duo.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association via CNA
However, in an upset, world No. 41 Magnus Johannesen edged past All England champion and world No. 8 Lin Chun-yi 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 in 1 hour, 13 minutes.
Dev Sukumar of BWFbadminton.com quoted Johannesen as calling the final game of the match “intense.”
“It was like every time I lifted, he was just smashing it down. I could not play the net,” he said. “So it was about finding that balance. It was crazy to play in there. It was so intense.”
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association via CNA
Liu Kuang-heng and Yang Po-hsuan returned balance to the tie, outlasting Kim Astrup and Mathias Christiansen 24-22, 21-17 in 42 minutes.
That put all the pressure on Chi Yu-jen, who took the first game against Ditlev Jaeger Holm 21-11, but fell 21-9 in the second, setting up a thrilling deciding game. Chi earned the first three match points at 20-17, before Holm staged a comeback to level and take the advantage, but the Taiwanese shuttler scrambled to stay alive, finishing off his opponent 27-25 in 1 hour, 10 minutes.
BWFbadminton.com said that Taiwan’s men’s team is the most formidable it has been in years.
“We did have a discussion that we have a chance this time,” Sukumar quoted Chou as saying. “Earlier, we didn’t have aspirations for the Thomas Cup because it seemed very far for us. This time it’s closer. We need to cheer each other and try to push each other.”
Taiwan’s best performance in the Thomas Cup was a bronze-medal finish in 2024.
They on Saturday dominated Sweden 5-0 in their Group C opener, but on Monday lost 3-2 to South Korea. Wednesday’s win was enough to send them to the quarter-finals, alongside Denmark.
Taiwan are next to face India, who finished second to China in Group A, while Japan and Malaysia advanced in Group B and Thailand and France advanced in Group D.
Although Indonesia on Tuesday denied Taiwan the top spot in Group C of the Uber Cup in a heated tie, the teams shared a few emotional moments.
With the teams tied 1-1, Taiwanese world No. 18 Lin Hsiang-ti took the first game 21-10 and then fought past Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi to win a narrow second game with the rare score of 30-29.
However, even after losing a tense challenge that ended the match, Pratiwi walked over to embrace Lin, BWFbadminton.com reported.
“This tournament is important, but it’s all right to give a hug,” the site quoted Pratiwi as saying. “She [Lin] appreciated me; she said I’m strong and I’m so young.”
The teams shared a few more smiles, despite Indonesia fighting back to take the final doubles and singles games.
China and Denmark from Group A, Japan and Malaysia from Group B and South Korea and Thailand from Group D also advanced to the Uber Cup quarter-finals.
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