The Thomas Uber Cup Finals 2022 is over. New champions were born from the badminton team event which was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 8-15.
Both of the defending champions of the Thomas Cup, Indonesia, and China in the Uber Cup didn’t succeed in winning back to back. Interestingly, both of them had to lose their title in the final. Indonesia was defeated by India with a score of 0-3 at the Impact Arena on Sunday local time (15/5/2022). The day before (14/5/2022), China lost 2-3 to Korea.
The emergence of India and Korea as the champion was unexpected. At the Thomas Cup, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and Japan were predicted to be able to advance to the semifinals to compete for tickets to the final. India was not mentioned at all. Team India ranked second in Group C because the opponent was from Chinese Taipei. But India started to get attention after defeating Malaysia, winner of Group D, in the quarter-finals. Denmark also fell victim to India’s power in the semifinals with a tight score of 3-2. The peak of the surprise happened in the final. Indonesia was defeated by a score of 3-0 straight.
It is undeniable, that two Indian singles – Srikanth Kidambi and Prannoy H.S – are at a mature age in terms of mental and experience. Both of them were able to accompany Lakhsya Sen who despite still being 20 years old but his achievements has put him at number nine on the world’s ranking that he was believed to be the first single. With the status of the former world's number one single, Srikanth became a tough challenge in the second singles for his opponents. Evidently, in the final, he was the one who confirmed India’s victory by defeating Indonesia's singles Jonatan Christie. Even if the match had to be completed through to the fifth party which competes in the third singles, Prannoy was mentally well prepared.
In the doubles, the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty pair also couldn’t be underestimated. Starting from the quarter-finals, the pair who’s currently ranked eighth in the world has always contributed points. The composition of three solid singles and one doubles was enough for India to make history for the first time to win the Thomas Cup.
On the other hand, for other countries, especially countries that have high ambitions to become champions, the results in the 2022 Thomas Cup were quite painful.
Indonesia, who could not field the world's number one pair, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya, due to Gideon still in recovery, made the country dismantle pairs of pairs. The ideal composition in the doubles by fielding the Minions, the nicknames Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya, and the second-ranked pair Hendra Setiawan/Ahsan couldn’t be done. Meanwhile, their single players, especially Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie, had been unstable in the Thomas Cup Finals 2022.
Meanwhile, China didn’t bring its two best singles, Chen Long, gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and world number seven, and Shi Yuqi, ranked 16th in the world. This obviously affected the strength of Team China. Not to mention the fact that Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen has separated. Meanwhile, for Japan, Kento Momota's performance has not yet returned and somehow affected the mentality of his colleagues. So, Japan, which was the champion in 2014, couldn’t make it through successfully.
In the Uber Cup, it is no less surprising. China, which was chasing its 16th title, also didn’t succeed. It wasn't Japan who beat them this time like in the Uber Cup Finals 2018 that was also held in Bangkok. This year, it’s Korea's turn to do so. It was a repeat of the final round of the 2010 Uber Cup which was held in Malaysia, when Korea defeated China. At that time, Korea won 3-1, while last Saturday, Korea won with a score of 3-2.
In terms of material and quality of players, China has the right composition to win. In the first single, China had Chen Yu Fei, a gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and is now in third place in the world rankings. She was accompanied by the world number nine He Bing Jiao. One point from the doubles is always almost certain as China’s doubles, Chen Qing Chen/Jia Ti Fan, are the world's number one pair. However, in a surprising turn of events, Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, lost to Korea’s Lee Sohee/Shin Seungchan — a defeat that spoils the scenario of the Chinese champions. Moreover, Korea's second doubles, Kim Hye Jeong/Kong Heeyong were able to defeat the Chinese pair Huang Dong Ping/Li Wen Mei.
Korea turned out to have players who have a never-give-up mentality. This has also been shown by An Seyoung's, the first singles. Even though she lost, she has shown his comrades that the spirit of fearlessness and defeat will be able to bring Korea to victory. When facing Chen Yu Fei, An Seyoung who was holding back pain in his leg still forced his opponent to compete until the rubber game.
Japan was actually the one predicted to challenge China in the final of the Uber Cup Finals 2022. The country has evenly distributed power in singles in doubles. In singles, Japan has Akane Yamaguchi who is now the world's number one badminton player. Her companion is also the former world number one Nozomi Okuhara. The doubles are just as powerful. There are Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota, third place, Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (5), and Nami Matsumoto/Chiharu Shida (7). However, the doubles number failed to contribute points when it was defeated by Korea 0-3 in the semifinals.
The 2024 Thomas Cup will be held in China. Of course, as the host, they will pull every possible efforts to make sure that their team succeed, unlike what happened in in Bangkok. Two years is the right time for not only China but other countries to prepare their strongest squad to be able to win the Thomas Cup title from India and the Uber Cup from Korea.
