PBSI Hopes Team Thomas Defends The Title

Badminton player Rian Ardianto (Instagram @rianardianto)

JAKARTA – The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) hopes that the Indonesian badminton team can defend its title at the 2022 Thomas Cup. Last year's experience is expected to be an important asset in facing the team championship.

Thomas's team is in a pretty tough group based on the draw on Friday, April 1 afternoon. Jonatan Christie and his friends are in Group A with South Korea, Thailand and Singapore.

"All three have their own strengths. But last year we were in a tough group. That is a lesson and experience for us, hopefully later we can maximize and defend the title," said Head of Binpres PBSI Rionny Mainaky in a statement.

Indonesia ended its 19-year-old Thomas Cup title drought by defeating defending champion China in last year's final which took place in Denmark. At that time, the Red and White squad appeared quite ciamik.

Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and his friends successfully won Group A and advanced to the quarter-finals. In this round, Indonesia also appeared dominant and succeeded in bending Malaysia with a landslide score, 3-0.

Indonesia's smooth steps then continued in the semifinals. They managed to beat Denmark 3-1 to reach the final match to face China.

"The competition will not be much different, I also think the strength of the opponent is like that. But maybe there are one or two new players who will appear and we have to be careful because the game is not yet known," said Rionny.

The holding of the 2022 Thomas & Uber Cup finals, which are close to the 2021 SEA Games, means that PBSI will divide two different teams with equal strength. The same player will not participate in both events.

The Thomas and Uber Cup finals will take place on May 8-15 at Impact Arena, Bangkok, Thailand. This will be the 32nd edition of the Thomas Cup and 29th for the Uber Cup.