***Image Credit: olahraga.kompas.com
NANNING (May 23, 2019): Defending champions Korea have been drawn to face Thailand in the BWF Sudirman Cup quarterfinals while hosts China are up against Denmark here today.
Korea and China, finalists in the last edition two years ago, are in the same half of the draw which was conducted after last night's final group stage matches.
Should they both win, they will square off in the semifinals on Saturday.
Japan, meanwhile, will battle Malaysia with Indonesia taking on Chinese Taipei in the other quarterfinals which will be contested on Friday.
The winners of these two ties are down to meet in the semifinals.
In accordance with the tournament regulations, the four group stage winners – China, Korea, Indonesia and Japan – can't face each other in the quarterfinals.
In yesterday's matches, China, Korea and Japan won their ties while Indonesia fell to Denmark.
Despite going down, Indonesia, which had defeated England in their earlier group tie, managed to top Group 1B.
All three teams in this group had a win and a loss each.
Korea, four-time winners since the tournament made its debut in 1989, are well on track to retain the title they sensationally won in 2017.
For the record, China are the most successful nation in the Sudirman Cup having won it a record 10-times, which included six consecutive titles between 2005 and 2015.
Besides China and Korea, the only other country to win this world mixed team crown is Indonesia which were the inaugural winners.
QUARTERFINALS MATCH-UPS
May 23 (6.00pm)
China vs Denmark
Korea vs Thailand
May 24 (11.00am)
Japan vs Malaysia
Indonesia vs Chinese Taipei
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
GROUP 1
Group 1A: Japan bt Thailand 4-1
Group 1B: Denmark bt Indonesia 3-2
Group 1C: Korea bt Chinese Taipei 3-2
Group 1D: China bt India 5-0
GROUP 2
Group 2B: Canada bt Germany 3-2, Singapore bt Israel 4-1
GROUP 3
Group 3A: Ireland bt Australia 3-2, New Zealand vs Nepal
Group 3B: Switzerland vs Sri Lanka, Slovakia vs Lithuania
PAST WINNERS
1989: Indonesia
1991: South Korea
1993: South Korea
1995: China
1997: China
1999: China
2001: China
2003: South Korea
2005: China
2007: China
2009: China
2011: China
2013: China
2015: China
2017: South Korea
2019: ???
