KUALA LUMPUR (May 8, 2010) – European qualifiers Germany are eyeing a historic quarter-final berth in the Thomas Cup Finals which begins at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.
“We have never got past the group stages in our previous four appearances in both the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup, It is time to put an end to this jinx,” said Germany’s Denmark-born coach Jakob Kristensen.
“Reaching the quarter-finals will be an achievement for us. It will be a new milestone for German badminton. The luck of draw pits all the European countries in the same group.”
Germany, Denmark and Poland are drawn in Group C in the Thomas Cup.
“We would have preferred Asian teams in our group...especially Malaysia. But by the luck of the draw we have been drawn against the European teams.
“The Germans love the environment in the Putra Stadium. And we love playing Malaysia in such an environment. The atmosphere here is very motivating.
“The badminton crowd here is far much bigger unlike in Europe. Even in Germany, you get good turnouts only for the semi-finals and finals and that too only on weekends.”
Still, Germany is motivated to beat Poland in their opening Group C match on Monday. In Kristensen’s own words “the luck of draw favours us” as group favourites Denmark take on Poland in the first match tomorrow (Sunday).
“We will know the result of the Denmark-Poland match and know what to do when we play the Poles. There is some prestige in our match against Poland as we want to send out strong signal that we are one of the top badminton nations in Europe,” added Kristensen.
Germany are also pumped up to get the better of Denmark in their second match on Tuesday.
Denmark blanked Germany 3-0 in the European qualifying round semi-finals. According to Kristensen, the scoreline looks flattering for Denmark but “the matches were close” and some of the ties were decided over the full distance.
Germany’s top singles player is Marc Zwiebler, who won the bronze in the recent European Championships in Manchester. Their top doubles pair Ingo Kindervater-Michael Fuchs also took the bronze in the same championships.
Source : Thomas & Uber Cup 2010 Official Website
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