Another easy win for

Indonesian Thomas Cuppers

JAKARTA (JP): Favorite Indonesia strolled into the semifinals of the Thomas Cup badminton championships with a clinical 5-0 demolition of the gritty but overmatched Swedes at Senayan indoor stadium last night.

China also advanced to the semifinals both in the Thomas and Uber Cups following its convincing 5-0 victories over Finland in the men's and Japan in the women's team competitions.

Uber Cup favorite South Korea also advanced with a 5-0 drubbing of Russia, and will meet defending champ China in a Group A top-of-the-table match tomorrow. China has defeated South Korea in each of the last three finals.

Indonesia, spearheaded by world number one Susi Susanti, takes on Sweden today.

Indonesia, out to reclaim the coveted Thomas Cup it has won a record eight times, will complete its Group B matches tomorrow when it tackles old nemesis China. Regardless of the results of their matches against the Chinese, Joko Suprianto and company are already assured of a berth in the semifinals, scheduled for May 17-18.

It was the second 5-0 win in as many matches for Indonesia, which crushed Finland on the opening day of the 12-day championships on Tuesday.

Yet, Sweden offered stiffer resistance against the mighty Indonesians.

World champion Joko showed the way by outplaying Jens Olsson, 15-7, 15-4.

Indonesia's ace displayed a near-flawless performance that delighted some 4,000 home fans who passionately cheered their favorites.

Joko

The fleet-footed Joko dominated play from the outset with his pinpoint dropshots, deceptive chops and sharp cross-court smashes, reducing the Swede to retrieving shots most of the time.

However there were stretches when Olsson did manage to outplay the world champion, but those were few and far between, much to the dismay of the 40-odd Swedish fans who turned up to cheer their side.

Joko wrapped up the match in 45 minutes to give Indonesia the expected 1-0 lead.

Indonesia went two up when the reigning All-England doubles champions, Rudy Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto, smashed their way to a 15-10, 15-4 victory over Jan-Erik Antonsson and Mikael Roser.

Antonsson and Roser put up a fighting performance and played with lots of grit, but Gunawan and Bambang were just too fast and too crafty for the Swedish players to match.

Ardy Wiranata gave Indonesia an insurmountable 3-0 lead when he dispatched Thomas Johansson 15-9, 15-9 in the second singles.

Ardy, the 1991 All-England champion, recovered from a rather shaky start to outclass the Swede in the one-sided half-hour match.

Though the tie was already decided, the Indonesian doubles pair of Ricky Subagya and Rexy Mainaky were all business against Rickard Magnusson and P.G. Jonsson, whom they easily whipped in double quick time, 15-0, 15-3.

The star-studded Indonesian side completed the whitewash when Hermawan Sutanto was stretched in a 15-4, 13-15, 15-2 victory over Patrik Andrensson in the last match.

It was Sweden's second successive defeat, having lost 4-1 to China on Wednesday. (bas/amd)

Today's matches

Thomas Cup (all matches begin at 7.30 p.m.) Denmark v South Korea; Malaysia v Thailand

Uber Cup Indonesia v Sweden; Denmark v Thailand.