CHENGDU: Taiwan pulled off the biggest upset of the Thomas Cup 2024 so far by toppling one of the tournament favourites, Denmark, with a convincing 3-1 victory in the quarter-finals today, securing their maiden semi-final appearance.
The win saw Taiwan join Malaysia, China and Indonesia in the semi-finals which is scheduled tomorrow where Malaysia take on China and Indonesia await Taiwan.
In today’s match, Chou Tien Chen, the world number 14, was instrumental in Taiwan’s victory as he battled for 68 minutes to defeat world number one Viktor Axelsen with scores of 21-19, 14-21, 21-19, securing the first point for his country at the Chengdu High-Tech Sports Zone Centre.
Speaking after the match, the 34-year-old said there was no special strategy to defeat the Dane; instead, he enjoyed every shot and rally throughout the opening match and added that his win had inspired the rest of the team.
After Tien Chen’s victory, Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin continued the momentum and prevailed in the first men’s doubles match by taking just 37-minutes to oust veteran pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, 21-14, 21-15 to secure their country’s second point.
However, world number four Anders Antonsen gave a glimmer of hope to Denmark by reducing the deficit to 2-1 when he came from a game down to subdue Lin Chun-Yi 14-21, 21-10, 21-14 in 72-minutes.
The decisive moment for Taiwan came in the fourth match when Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan, stepped up to give Taiwan the semi-final ticket by edging Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard, 23-21, 21-18.
Jhe-Huei attributed their remarkable success to Axelsen’s shock defeat at the hands of Tien Chen earlier, stating that it was a key factor in their huge win today.
Taiwan’s previous best record in the world’s most prestigious badminton team tournament was advancing to the quarter-finals three times before in 2016, 2018 and 2022.
Standing in Taiwan’s way will be Indonesia as they fended off South Korea 3-1, in the other quarter-final action today.
Indonesia started off on the right note when Anthony Sinisuka Ginting gave his team the first point as he clawed his way back from losing the opening game to down Jeon Hyeok Jim, 14-21, 21-16, 21-16.
South Korea levelled the tie when Kang Min Hyeuk-Seo Seung Jae, the world number two pair, excelled in their bout against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulan, winning 21-15, 21-12, before Jonatan Christie regained the lead for Indonesia by seeing off Cho Geonyeop 17-21, 21-17, 21-10.
Scratch pair Fajar Alfian-Daniel Marthin sealed the victory for Indonesia when they powered past Ki Dong Ju-Kim Won Ho 21-12, 21-13 and helped the 14-times champion move into their sixth consecutive semi-finals since 2014.
Looking ahead to the semi-finals, Fajar said they won’t take Taiwan’s challenge lightly and admitted both teams have an equal chance of making to the final come Sunday.
