Indonesia scores morale-boosting Thomas Cup win<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (Reuters): Indonesia made a successful opening to
\nthe defense of its Thomas Cup badminton men's team title yesterday,
\nbrushing aside the Netherlands 5-0.<\/p>\n
With team management promising protection for their families
\nduring the rioting in Jakarta and other cities, the Indonesian
\nplayers said they were able to concentrate on the competition.<\/p>\n
\"I'm very happy with the team's performance today. The
\ncondition of the players is good and they were not affected by the
\nsituation in our country,\" said Agus Wirahadikusuma, an army
\ngeneral who is the Indonesian team manager.<\/p>\n
\"I have moved to guarantee the security of the players'
\nfamilies. Badminton is like a religion in Indonesia and I'm sure a
\ngood team performance here will have a good influence on the people
\nin the country.<\/p>\n
\"The athletes know that they can provide moral support for the
\npopulation.\"<\/p>\n
Badminton is the national sport in Indonesia and attracts huge
\ntelevision viewing figures.<\/p>\n
Former world champion Hariyanto Arbi started yesterday's rout
\nwith a 15-10, 15-10 win over Jeroen Van Dijk in an error-ridden
\nmatch lasted 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
\"Strong wind has sent a number of my drives off the court,\"
\nHariyanto gave an excuse of his disappointing performance.<\/p>\n
Then the explosive Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, the Olympic
\nchampions, sent the small, but boisterous, Indonesian support into
\nraptures with a straight-games win over Quinten Van Dalm and Dennis
\nLens.<\/p>\n
Hendrawan, the world number nine, put the overall result
\nbeyond doubt with a 15-5, 15-3 triumph over Gerben Bruijstens.<\/p>\n
China, tipped along with Denmark to challenge Indonesia for
\nthe crown, overcame Sweden 5-0 in their opener.<\/p>\n
The deceptively laid-back Sun Jun, the All-England champion,
\nput top seeded China on the road to victory, beating Sweden's
\nHenrik Bengtsson 15-7, 15-0 in 27 minutes.<\/p>\n
The only surprise was world number five Dong Jiong being taken
\nto three games by Daniel Eriksson in the final match.<\/p>\n
An annual general meeting held by the International Badminton
\nFederation (IBF) decided yesterday to change two key rules to make
\nthe sport more appealing to spectators and television.<\/p>\n
IBF officials announced the decision to follow the lead of
\ntennis and allow on-court coaching between games.<\/p>\n
It is also scrapping the setting rule which applies at 13-13
\nin doubles and men's singles and 9-9 in women's singles.<\/p>\n
The changes will come into force on Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
However, setting to three points when the players are tied 14-
\n14 in doubles and men's singles and to two points when locked 10-10
\nin women's singles will remain.<\/p>\n
\"The meeting felt that changing the setting rules would make
\nthe sport easier for spectators to understand,\" said Madame Lu
\nShengrong, president of the IBF.<\/p>\n
\"By allowing on-court coaching we hope some matches will be
\nmore competitive as the players can benefit from advice from their
\ncoaches.\"<\/p>\n
The ATP tennis Tour introduced on-court coaching as an
\nexperiment at the Hong Kong Open last month and will try it out at
\nfour more tournaments this year.<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
Group A:
\n China 5 Sweden 0<\/p>\n
Group B:
\n Indonesia 5 Netherlands 0<\/p>",
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