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New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Indian badminton team will begin their campaign in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals against contrasting opponents at Kuala Lumpur's Putra Stadium Monday.While the men's team faces a tough opener against 13-time champion Indonesia in the Thomas Cup the women's team will have a far easy outing against South Africa. The other team in the men's group is Australia while South Korea is the third team in the women's group.Indonesia, with the likes of Athens Olympic champion Taufiq Hidayat, began their campaign Sunday, whitewashing minnows Australia 5-0.It is for the first time that both the Indian men's and women's team would be playing in the finals of the most prestigious badminton team event and coach Pullela Gopichand sounded upbeat on the eve of their first match.'Our preparation has been very good. We had a long camp in Hyderabad and the players have practised hard. There are no injury worries and the atmosphere in the camp is pretty relaxed,' Gopichand told IANS from Kuala Lumpur.Talking about the team's chances Monday, Gopichand said the men's team will have a difficult task against Indonesia, but it should be a cakewalk for the women's side, spearheaded by Saina Nehwal. The women's team have qualified for the first time following their surprise victory in the Asia Zone qualifiers in February.'It will be tough match against Indonesia. They are the favourites, but I know the potential of my players and we definetly have a chance.''The women's team should not face any problem and they should come out with a comfortable win against South Africa.'Gopichand said it is a big achievement for the Indian team to qualify for the tournament and they need to keep on performing with consistency.'It is very good sign for Indian badminton having qualified for such an elite event from the toughest Asian zone. We are looking to reach the quarterfinals first and from there on we would take one step at a time and hope to make it to the semi-finals.'Against Indonesia, the onus will be on senior players Arvind Bhat and Anup Sridhar in the singles matches while young Parupalli Kashyap and Gurusai Datt have the skills to surprise opponents. In Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave, India boast of a class doubles combination.Saina will lead the women's charge while Aditi Mutatkar would be high on confidence, fresh from her stellar performance in the Asian badminton championship where she reached the quarterfinals. Sayali Gokhala and Aditi Mutatkar will be the two other singles players.Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa and Shruti Kurian and Aparna Balan are the doubles combination.Overwhelming favourites, China will be eyeing their fourth consecutive victory in the Thomas Cup and will be looking to win their seventh Uber Cup title.For the Uber Cup, China is in Group A with Malaysia and the United States. Group B comprises Indonesia, Denmark and Australia; Group C has Japan, Russia and Germany, while Group D has South Korea, India and South Africa.In the Thomas Cup, China, Korea and South American qualifiers Peru are placed in Group A. Group B has host Malaysia with another Asian superpower, Japan alongwith Nigeria. Group C has been drawn as the all European group with Denmark, Germany and Poland while Group D has Indonesia, India and Australia.The top two teams in their respective groups advance to the quarter-finals, where a fresh draw will be conducted for the knockout stage.
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