Another easy win for

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.