Indonesia pounds lowly Finland in Thomas Cup<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, the odds-on favorite to win the
\nThomas Cup, began its campaign for badminton's blue ribbon with a
\nbang, demolishing unfancied Finland 5-0 at Senayan indoor stadium
\nlast night.<\/p>\n
It was plain sailing for the star-studded Indonesian team as
\nJoko Suprianto and company stood head and shoulders over their
\nFinnish opposite numbers, who were completely outclassed,
\noutstroked and outwitted.<\/p>\n
The world beating Indonesian players proved too powerful for
\nthe Finns who managed only token resistance as they went down
\nwith a whimper.<\/p>\n
It was one way traffic all the way, with the hosts scoring
\npoint after point almost at will. The Scandinavian players,
\nmaking their first appearance in the Thomas Cup finals, were
\nnovices at the feet of the Indonesian badminton masters.<\/p>\n
The fireless Finnish team had many wondering how they
\nqualified for the finals at the expense of England, one of
\nEurope's traditional powerhouses alongside Denmark and Sweden.<\/p>\n
World number one Joko toyed with Robert Liljequist before
\ninflicting a hammering 15-3, 15-4 defeat in the first singles.<\/p>\n
Reigning All-England champion Hariyanto Arbi, playing relaxed,
\ngave a badminton lesson to Jyri Aalto whom he whipped 15-5, 15-7
\nin less than 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
Ricky Subagya and Rexy Mainaky made short work of Tony
\nTuominem and Mikael Segercrantz , 15-4, 15-5 in the first doubles
\nmatch, before Ardy Wiranata strolled to a 15-3, 15-5 victory over
\nLasse Lindelof in the third singles. The All-England doubles
\nchampions, Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto completed the shutout
\nwith another thumping 15-1, 15-3 win over their completely
\novermatched opponents, Aalto and Jari Eriksson.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will next meet Sweden tomorrow. Sweden stole a point
\nbefore finally gave up to China 1-4 in yesterday's other Thomas
\nCup match. Sweden's second singles Thomas Johansson stunned the
\nfour-time winner as he beat Dong Jiong 15-6, 17-15 to help his
\nmove up to 2-1, but that's as close as they ever got. Earlier
\nChinese first singles Liu Jun tamed Jens Olsson 15-10, 15-12 and
\nmain doubles Chen Kang and Chen Hongyong painstakingly beat Jan-
\nEric Antonsson and Mikael Rosen 15-7, 15-11 to give China 2-0
\nlead.<\/p>\n
China's number two doubles Jiang Xin and Huang Zhanzhong gave
\ntheir squad an unbeatable lead after downing Par-Gunnar Jonsson
\nand Rickard Magnusson 15-7, 15-6. Playing in an indecisive match,
\nChinese junior player Sun Jun showed his class to topple Patrik
\nAndreasson 15-12, 15-11 in a hard-fought battle lasting almost an
\nhour.
\nUber Cup<\/p>\n
In the Uber Cup, defending champion China breezed to a
\nresounding 5-0 victory over underdog Russia, which is making its
\ndebut in the competition.<\/p>\n
Ye Zhaoying, China's top player and ranked third in the world,
\noutclassed Marina Andeievsuaya 11-3, 11-8. Han Jingna extended
\nChina's lead by beating Irina Jakusheva, 11-3, 11-2.<\/p>\n
China went further ahead when Ge Fei and Gu Jun scored an
\neffortless 15-5, 15-4 win over Marina Jakusheva and Svetlana
\nAlfirova.<\/p>\n
Zhang Ning then stepped onto the court to outlast Elena
\nDenisova 11-6, 11-0, before the pair of Wu Yuhong and Chen Ying
\ncompleted the rout by beating Irina and Nedezhda Chervjakova.<\/p>\n
The Chinese pair took the first set 15-10. The Russian
\nforfeited the second set with the Chinese leading 9-5
\ndue to a knee injury.<\/p>\n
China, seeking a sixth consecutive Uber Cup title, will face
\nJapan on Friday.<\/p>\n
World number three Bang Soo-hyun gave South Korea an opening
\n11-5, 11-2 win over Japan's Hizako Mizui. But South Korean world
\nbest doubles of Chung Soo-hyung and Gil Young-ah dropped a set
\nbefore bouncing back to beat Tomomi Matsuo and Kyoko Sasage 16-
\n17, 15-10, 15-3 .<\/p>\n
The Indonesian crowds who gave their support to the Japanese
\ncould not help second singles Kim Ji-hyun from outclassing Takako
\nIda 11-5, 11-4 to assure the first seeded team a 3-0 beach head.<\/p>\n
South Korea displayed its superiority against Japan, Uber Cup
\nchampions in the 1970s, by winning their two matches. Second best
\ndoubles of Shim Eun Jung and Jang Hye Ock worked hard in the
\nfirst set but were unchallenged in the second to beat Tokiko
\nHirota and Senobu Sasaku 15-12, 15-2. Ra Kyun Min wrapped up
\nSouth Korea's excellent start with a 11-3, 11-1 victory over
\nTasuko Mizui. (bas\/amd)<\/p>",
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