Kuala Lumpur, May 18: On form South Korean Lee Hyun-il has been given the nod to play in the first singles of a Thomas Cup semifinals against China today.

The young shuttler who has scalped Olympic Champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, Malaysia's Ong Ewe Hock and India's Nikhil Kanetkar in the preliminary round ties will play in place of South Korea's top singles player Shon Seung-mo.

Seung-mo has not been able to win a single match in the tournament so far, having lost to Malaysia's Wong Choong Hann, world no. 1 Peter Gade-Christensen.

Perhaps the defeat against India's Pullela Gopichand in the final group tie was the straw which broke the South Korean camp's faith in the player. To be fair to the player, Sheung-mo was carrying a nagging knee injury even before the start of the tournament.

However, it will be an uphill battle for the player ranked 43rd in the world who will be up against All England and Swiss Open winner Xia Xuanze.

Xuanze looks set to give China the first point but considering Hyun-il's progress so far, another upset could be on the cards.

Having prevailed over stronger opponents to qualify for the semifinals, the Koreans are ready to step out of their spoiler role and become strong contenders instead.

South Korea who qualified for the semifinals on three consecutive occasions in 1992, 1994 and 1996 are looking to make a fourth appearance.

Today's match will basically be an encounter between the Chinese singles armada and the South Korean strength in the doubles.

The Chinese team has been untested so far in their preliminary group, scoring two easy 5-0 wins over Holland and Sweden while resting their top player Xia Xuanxe in the 1-4 defeat to Indonesia. 

South Korean team manager Kwon Seung-taik is banking on the formidable doubles pair to deliver against their Chinese counterparts.

"I think it is going to be a very close match. China will be strong in the singles but we have confidence that our two doubles pairs can deliver for us. We have a good chance of beating China as our singles players can also deliver."

Line-up
China vs South Korea
First singles: Xia Xuanze vs Lee Hyun-ll
First doubles: Yu Jinhao-Chen Qiqiu vs Kim Dong-moon-Ha Tae-kwon
Second singles: Ji Xinpeng vs Ahn Jae-chang
Second doubles: Zhang Wei-Zhang Jun vs Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung
Third singles: Luo Yigang vs Park Tae-sang