"The result of the toss for the qualification round turned out to be interesting as we have been put in the same group with Taiwan and Thailand. We believe we can overcome them and lead the group," the chief of the Indonesian contingent to Thomas Cup and Uber Cup 2016 championships, Achmad Budiharto, was quoted as saying by the All Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) on its official website here on Tuesday.
The Indonesian mens team will be in the same group as their rivals from Taiwan, Thailand and Maldives.
Budiharto admitted that Taiwanese players like Chou Tien Chen for the mens event and Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin for the mens doubles are strong players with good achievements.
With regard to womens Uber Cup qualification round, Budiharto said the countrys team has a slim chance to emerge as the group champion as it would find itself in the company of the South Koreans in the same group.
"The race to proceed to the second round is wide open. Realistically, the challenge is hard because it must beat the South Korean team," he said.
The South Korean women players are equally strong, in the womens singles as well as doubles events, like Sung Ji-Hyun in the single event and Chang Ye Na/Lee So He in the double, he said.
"But I am convinced our players would put up their best performance," he said.
Following are the results of the toss for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Asia Badminton Team Championships in India:
Thomas Cup:
Group MA: China, India, Singapore
Group MB: Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Nepal
Group MC: Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Maldives
Group MD: Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines
Uber Cup:
Group WA: China, Malaysia, Hong Kong
Group WB: Thailand, Taiwan, Sri Lanka
Group WC: Korea, Indonesia, Maldives
Group WD: Japan, India, Singapore.
reporting by imam santoso
T.I026
(H-YH/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/B003)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
