Jakarta: China's highly-fancied shuttlers, led by the temperamental Lin Dan and his girlfriend Xie Xingfang, aim to reinforce their dominance at the Thomas and Uber Cups ahead of their Olympic assault.

The Chinese juggernaut looks unstoppable as it fine-tunes for gold medal glory at the Games in Beijing, although host nation Indonesia fancy their chances of an upset at the elite team championships which start here on Sunday.

China has won the past two Thomas Cups and with a side boasting world number one Lin, third-ranked Bao Chunlai and world number four Chen Jin, they are odds on to claim a third.

But they are not invincible, especially with Indonesia, which has won a record 13 Thomas Cup titles, having a boisterous home crowd behind them at the Senayan Sports Complex and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat on their team.

"The competition at this year's Thomas Cup is pretty strong, but in the singles we are confident," said Lin, who needs to be on his best behaviour after allegedly striking coach Ji Xinpeng in a temper tantrum last month.

"If we play well and make the effort then we can defend our championship. For myself, I want to play each match well and win every point for Team China."

Indonesia will be banking on Hidayat, Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso to work miracles in the singles and world doubles champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan to do their bit.
Source : PTI