Indonesia cruches Thailand in Thomas Cup opener<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Guangzhou, China<\/p>\n
Indonesia managed to clear the first hurdle in its bid to
\ndefend the Thomas Cup trophy by crushing Thailand 5-0 in the
\nGroup B matches in Guangzhou, China.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and host China also booked their own clean-sweep
\nvictories on Friday evening here.<\/p>\n
Marlev Mainaky began the reign after easily beating Boonsak
\nPolsana in the first tie with a 7-4, 7-4, 7-2 victory at
\nGuangzhou's Tianhe Sports Center.<\/p>\n
The 2001 Indonesian Open winner Marlev played calmly with
\nprecise placing of the ball and sharp smashes, which appeared to
\nearn him points.<\/p>\n
Boonsak, however, proved almost indomitable, forcing Marlev to
\nwork hard en route to victory.<\/p>\n
Marlev wrapped up the match when Boonsak's return shot landed
\noutside of Marlev's back line. The victory extended his personal
\nhead-to-head score to three against one.<\/p>\n
In the second match, Indonesia's top doubles of Chandra Wijaya
\nand Sigit Budiarto improved the team's lead after defeating
\nPramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas also with a 3-0
\nvictory.<\/p>\n
The pair started shakily, at times being caught up in their
\nown action without solid cooperation. Still they won the first
\ngame 8-6.<\/p>\n
The remaining two games turned out to be an easy task for the
\nIndonesians, winning convincingly 7-0 in the second and 7-4 in
\nthe third.<\/p>\n
Taufik Hidayat then took to the court and decided the
\ndefending champion's triumph after holding off Anupap
\nThiraratsakul in five sets.<\/p>\n
Anupap took the first two sets quite easily with 7-1, 7-2 as
\nTaufik seemed to have lost his skills in implementing strategies
\non the court. Taufik made too many unforced errors, although he
\nstill retained the technical skills after being absent from the
\ncourt for quite a long time.<\/p>\n
Finding his rhythm, Taufik fought back in the remaining three
\nsets, scoring 8-6, 8-6, 7-0 to seal Indonesia's victory.<\/p>\n
Coach Joko Supriyanto admitted that Taufik had lost his touch
\nafter his long absence and had to work hard before recovering his
\nplay.<\/p>\n
\"Taufik was still looking for his best play and the best way
\nto beat Anupap. It's natural after being off the court,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia completed its mauling of Thailand with victories in
\nthe second doubles and the third singles.<\/p>\n
Halim Haryanto and Tri Kusheryanto beat Khunakorn Sudhisodhi
\nand Patapol Ngernsrisuk 7-5, 7-5, 7-1 in the doubles, while
\nHendrawan beat Jakrapan Thanathiratham 0-7, 8-7,7-5, 2-7, 7-1 in
\nthe singles.<\/p>\n
In the other Group B's match, Malaysia also swept aside
\nnewcomer Germany 5-0 without losing a single game.
\n The Indonesian men will next meet archrival Malaysia on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
\"The match against Malaysia will be tougher than the one
\nagainst Thailand as Malaysia has better skills,\" team manager
\nChristian Hadinata told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"Malaysia is our archrival in badminton which involves a long
\nhistory of tradition. We have alternately beaten each other so
\nfar,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the women's team Uber Cup, China beat Germany 5-0 and Japan
\nwas beaten 1-4 by South Korea.<\/p>",
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