Thomas Cup Final 2010 @ Bukit Jalil, KL, Malaysia

The Thomas Cup Finals 2010 was held in Malaysia for a week from 9th - 16th May 2010. Being an enthusiast of badminton, I'd always hope that Malaysia would reclaim the trophy that they last won in 1992.

Before the Final match, I was being asked by Chee on whether I was interested to watch it live in the stadium. Without thinking further, I agreed to it, with the hope that Malaysia, with the host advantage would be able to make it to the final. If things went alright, Malaysia should went up against China in the final.

Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil, Malaysia

However, Malaysia did not performed well during the group stage. As a result, they faced the might Chinese in the semi-final and crashed out from the competition. This meant that the final would be between China and Indonesia.

Thomas Cup 2010 Finals in Malaysia

We reached the venue as early as 12pm even though the match will commenced at 2pm. It was crowded with people with supporters for both both country.

Indonesian Slogan, "Moving Forward, Against Surrendering"

Chinese supporter with the flag wrapped over

The queue line to get into the stadium

We were able to make it to our seat by 12.30pm. I was excited though as this was my first time watching a live badminton match in a stadium. How nice if it was our national team instead.

Panoramic view of the stadium

Official ticket of Thomas Cup Final 2010

Workers marking the attendance with PDA

Getting ready for the match

Hello from Malaysia!

Our buddy who arrived late

It was air-conditioned in the stadium. So no sweat as we were pretty comfortable with the seat. The atmosphere in the stadium was electrifying especially with the chants and cheering from the Indonesians supporters.

The Indonesian supporters

At 1.30pm, the Chinese contingent moved out from the dressing room to their allocated seats. Clad in their famous striking yellow jackets, the Chinese received a rousing reception from the crowd.

The Chinese team

Team spirit of the Chinese

1. Sharp at 2pm, the first match of the Final started. The single match between Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Lin Dan of China.

Taufik Hidayat vs Lin Dan
Taufik went down 7-21 tamely to Lin Dan in the first set. On the second set, Lin Dan wrapped up the game with 21-14 even though Taufik did performed better compared to the first match. It was too one sided game and it ended after a mere 44 minutes. Lin Dan clearly deserved to win the match but there were some point where he show his unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Lin Dan running towards the Chinese team after he won

2. Second game was the double between Yun Cai - Hai Feng Fu of China and Markis Kido - Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.

The Chinese pair won the second match
The game was better, with the Indonesian pair putting up a good spirit and fight before succumbing in the rubber set. It could have make a different should the Indonesian pair won the first set. In the rubber set, the Indonesian pair made too many unforced error before surrendering the game to the Chinese.

Kid got creative

3. It's a make or break for the Indonesian team. The second single game between Chen Jin of China and Simon Santoso of Indonesia. I was hoping so badly that the Indonesia could win the game so that it will drag the match to the 4th game.

Chen Jin vs Simon Santoso
The first set was tight with Simon leading all the way but was chased closely by Chen Jin before Simon wrapping it up at 21 -19. The second set a close encounter too, before Chen Jin gain the upper hand winning it at 21- 17. During the third set, Simon Santoso had lost it. He was tired, his body gestures showed that he was surrendering the game. Fair enough, it was a one sided affair and Chen Jin thrashed him with a score of 21-7. Final score, China 3 - 0 Indonesia

With Chen Jin winning the game, it meant that China successfully defended the Thomas Cup. It was their fourth consecutive triumphs.

China, the 2010 Thomas Cup winner

The media running to the Chinese team

Crowd watching the jubilant Chinese team

The prize presentation ceremony

It was not an easy task to capture the faces of the players especially with the fast pace movement on the court. Just when I thought so, I saw a media person holding a huge and long lense. How I wish I owned it!

The Bazooka lense

It was a memorable experience even though Malaysia were not part of the Final team. Hopefully, in the near future Malaysia will host the tournament again and make it all the way to the final. Even better, if the Malaysian could win it. As for now, let's pray hard the Malaysian badminton team will improve from time to time.