Big names chalk up big wins

Big names chalk up big wins

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lopsided matches were in abundance on the opening day of the
Thomas and Uber Cups at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium here on
Friday.

Uber Cup defending champion China, as well as South Korea and
Chinese Taipei, drubbed their opponents with 5-0 wins each, while
Japan had to concede a game in its 4-1 victory over Malaysia.

In the Thomas Cup, China, Denmark, Malaysia and South Korea
were all too strong for their respective opponents, each securing
5-0 winners.

The first day of the badminton championship saw a meager
attendance, with less than a thousand spectators coming to the
10,000-capacity stadium.

World No. 1 Gong Ruina led China's 5-0 sweeping win over
Indonesia in a lopsided match that sent a strong message of
China's likely unstoppable drive to retain the title.

While Indonesia suffered the anticipated crushing defeat,
Silvi Antarini deserves praise for forcing Gong to play to three
sets.

In the other games, Maria Kristin, Adrianti Firdasari and the
pairings of Jo Novita/Lilyana Natsir, and Lita Nurlita/Gresya
Polii were all hammered, each in two-set encounters.

In a Group Y match, Japan and Malaysia were involved in a
tight encounter before Japan, which held the trophy from 1966 to
1981, cruised through to a 4-1 victory.

Malaysia's top doubles Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty gave
their team their only point with a 13-15, 15-9, 11-15 win over
Chikako Nakayama and Keiko Yoshitomi.

Malaysia gained some consolation in the Thomas Cup when its
men's team proved its domination over debutant South Africa with
an easy 5-0 win in Group C.

The Malaysians didn't even drop a single set throughout with
Mohd Hafiz Hashim blanking Wiaan Viljoen 15-0, 15-0.

Led by world No. 5 Lee Hyun-ill, South Korea also made a clean
sweep over New Zealand in Group B.

Denmark and China booked their big wins over England and the
United States respectively.

Inspite of being dealt a 5-0 defeat by the Chinese, the United
States team could glean some consolation from Kevin Han's
promising run in his 15-12, 15-1 loss to world No. 1 Xia Xuanze.

"I am not trained to be a singles player, I have been
concentrating more on the doubles game where I also
play as a second doubles," Kevin told The Jakarta
Post.

Chinese team manager Li Yongbo said the match against
the U.S. was a tight one as his players had to study
the American style first.

"The U.S. is a different country, it's a new country
in badminton. We have to practice first. It is not
easy to play.

"Their second doubles, Kevin Han and Howard Bach, are
from China and Vietnam and have different games. That's
why we had to play longer."

Bach and Han forced Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng to work
quite hard before the Chinese won 15-12, 15-13.

The United States will be back on court on Saturday with a
match against defending champion Indonesia. The other Thomas Cup
matches are Germany versus New Zealand, and Thailand against
South Africa.

The Uber Cup ties are Denmark against Malaysia and Australia
against Canada.