IT has been the worst start of the season for Denmark's Peter Gade-Christensen, who has been out of the game for almost three months with two broken ribs sustained due to over coughing during a bout of pneumonia.

But the 31-year-old shuttler is back for the Thomas Cup Finals, his first tournament since reaching the semi-finals of the Korean Open in January.

Gade-Christensen, has good memories of the Istora Senayan Stadium as it was there that he led Denmark to victory against Indonesia in the 2004 edition.

However, unlike in the previous two Thomas Cup editions, the World No 8 will play second singles while teammate Kenneth Jonassen, the current European champion, takes over as the first singles for the Danes.

"It has been a difficult year so far, the most challenging in my career, mainly because I broke two ribs due to over coughing," said the Dane at the Istora Senayan Stadium in Jakarta yesterday.
"As I could not train much, I decided to skip tournaments. I thought then I would never return to the game but thank God I'm back."

Gade-Christensen, who only recovered from pneumonia a month ago, has been training very hard for the event.

"I feel very motivated this time. I believe the challenges I endured over the past months will make me even more determined to deliver," he said.

Gade Christensen, who led Denmak to two appearances in the final -- 2004 (Jakarta) and 2006 (Tokyo) -- hopes that this time around the team will win the Thomas Cup.

"It will be the last hurrah for several players in the Danish team and I believe this factor will make us more stronger.

"Shuttlers like Jonassen, Jens Erikssen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen, who will all retire after the Beijing Olympics in August, will be going all out as they want to win the Cup."