Indonesia clears first hurdle in Sudirman Cup<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia cleared its first hurdle at the
\nSudirman Cup Group B round-robin match by defeating England 4-1
\nat the San Pablo Stadium in Seville, Spain, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
But the national team suffered a blow with the injury of world
\nnumber three men's singles Taufik Hidayat.<\/p>\n
In Group A, former champion South Korea blanked underdog
\nSweden 5-0.<\/p>\n
Indonesia went down 1-0 as its women's doubles Deyana Lomban
\nand Indarti Issoliana were forced to bow out 15-8, 10-15, 15-17
\nto Donna Kellogg and Gail Emms in a tough 95-minute match.<\/p>\n
Kellogg, given a yellow-card on Monday for shuttle abuse in a
\ngame against Denmark, said, as quoted by Reuters: "Even at 14-11
\ndown in the decider, we just didn't give in. We never believed we
\nwould lose that match."<\/p>\n
Taufik managed to tie 1-1 after defeating Michael Edge 15-9,
\n15-8 but sprained his right ankle when leading 9-3 in the first
\ngame.<\/p>\n
"I managed to force myself to keep on playing but now it
\nreally hurts. I can't even walk," Taufik told The Jakarta Post
\nfrom Seville on Wednesday. "I won't play in today's match against
\nDenmark."<\/p>\n
Women's singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja overcame Julia Mann 11-6,
\n11-8 to lead 2-1. Her victory was followed by Olympic men's
\ndoubles champions Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan who overwhelmed
\nAnthony Clark and Nathan Robertson 15-5, 15-8.<\/p>\n
Japan Open champions Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur
\nsealed the country's victory after Englishman Simon Archer, who
\nwas partnering Gail Emms, had to retire after snapping a tendon
\nin his right knee-cap within the first 10 minutes of play,
\nReuters reported.<\/p>\n
The Olympics bronze medalist will be out of action for nine
\nmonths and will have to miss next week's World Championships.<\/p>\n
Speaking about Indonesia's team performance, head coach
\nChristian Hadinata expressed satisfaction.<\/p>\n
"They have shown good form, especially in the men's singles
\nand doubles. Even though Deyana and Indarti lost to the English
\npair they were in great form throughout the tough match," he told
\nthe Post.<\/p>\n
"As for Taufik, he showed his class as he managed to deal with
\nthe pressure and equal the score. He was put to the test with
\nEdge as the English shuttler was very fast in attacking."<\/p>\n
Koreans Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min opened their country's
\nvictory on Tuesday by outclassing Frederik Bergstrom and Jenny
\nKarlsson of Sweden 15-8, 15-2. Men's singles rising star Lee
\nHyun-il sweated out to beat Rasmus Wengberg 15-13, 15-11 followed
\nby Jun Jae-youn in the women's singles who defeated Marina
\nAndrievskaya 11-4, 11-4.<\/p>\n
Olympics silver medalists Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung
\neliminated Sweden's doubles pair Joakim Andersson and Mikael
\nRosen 15-9, 15-3 and Lee Kyung-won and Ra Kyung-min concluded
\nKorea's victory after beating Johanna Persson and Sara Persson in
\nthe women's doubles 15-0, 15-4.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has ensured a place in the semifinal, accompanying
\ndefending champion China, 1999's runner-up Denmark and South
\nKorea.<\/p>\n
New lineup<\/p>\n
In Wednesday's match, to take place at 6 p.m. local time (11
\np.m. Jakarta Time), Indonesia will field Hendrawan in the men's
\nsingles, Yuli Marfuah in the women's singles, Flandy Limpele and
\nSigit Budiarto in the men's doubles, Deyana and Indarti in the
\nwomen's doubles and Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur in the
\nmixed doubles.<\/p>\n
The lineup is completely different from Tuesday's match except
\nin the women's and mixed doubles.<\/p>\n
Christian said that he wanted to see all shuttlers'
\nperformances prior to the semifinals on Friday.<\/p>\n
"We have ensured a ticket to the semifinals, therefore, I want
\nto see their performance in today's match to arrange the lineup
\nfor the semifinals.<\/p>\n
"If I don't field them today, there won't be any chance for
\nshuttlers to experience pressure on court. It will also be too
\nrisky if we field shuttlers who have never played in the round-
\nrobin for the semis.<\/p>\n
"We are also aiming to beat Denmark and at the same time make
\namends for our defeat in the 1999 semifinals.<\/p>\n
Denmark will likely field the same lineup as on Monday, when
\nit crushed England 5-0.<\/p>\n
Wednesday will also see China, aiming for its fourth title,
\nface Korea. The teams' lineups were unavailable, as of going to
\npress. (yan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-clears-first-hurdle-in-sudirman-cup-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}