Hariyanto stars as RI into Thomas Cup semis
Hariyanto stars as RI into Thomas Cup semis
HONG KONG (Reuters): Former world champion Hariyanto Arbi
inspired holder Indonesia into the semifinals of badminton's
Thomas Cup men's team championship with a 4-1 win over South
Korea yesterday.
World number seven Hariyanto, struggling with cramp early in
the match, fought back from 10-14 down in the opening game to
beat Hwang Sun-ho 17-14, 15-0 and set the tone for the other
singles players.
Marleve Mainaky and Joko Suprianto, another former world
champion, lost just six points in winning their matches to steer
Indonesia into the last four.
China marched impressively into the semis with a 5-0 win over
Hong Kong but 1996 runner-up Denmark suffered a hiccup on its way
to a 4-1 win over Sweden and qualification from group A.
Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen lost for the first
time in eleven meetings -- to world number 18 Thomas Johansson.
Hoyer-Larsen committed several unforced errors as the fired-up
Johansson won 5-15, 17-16, 15-8.
World number one Peter Gade Christensen had put Denmark on the
road to victory with a 15-4, 15-5 win over Henrik Bengtsson and
the reliable doubles duo of Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael
Sogaard hammered Frederik Bergstrom and Henrik Andersson 15-3,
15-4.
The Danes rested world champion Peter Rasmussen, beaten by Liu
Kwok-wa of Hong Kong on Saturday, to give him more time to
recover from an achilles tendon injury.
Malaysia, winner in 1992 but under fire at home for poor
recent performances, also made the last four with a thumping 5-0
victory over the Netherlands.
Malaysia and Indonesia both have two wins from group B and
will meet tomorrow to decide who tops the group. China and
Denmark will also meet tomorrow in the group A top-of-the-table
match.
"So far, so good - you cannot complain if you win 5-0," said
Malaysian coach Morten Frost, who led Denmark to the final two
years ago. "Indonesia are a very strong team and must be
favorites to beat us."
"I think we will be happy if we can take one of the doubles
off them," he added.
Indonesian team manager Agus Wirahadikusumah said that the
selectors would employ a special strategy to defeat Malaysia.
"We are trying to devise something different for Malaysia. We
may not put out our strongest side but one picked specifically to
beat them. We are great rivals and it will be a very attractive
match," he said.
"The singles players performed well today. Hariyanto (Arbi)
did not warm up properly and cramped up quickly. I have warned
all the players that they must warm up before their matches."
Agus admitted he feared China the most.
"Technically, China is the best team at this time. However in
this event, anything can happen," he said. "We are ready to fight
and we are focused on our strengths," he added.
After Arbi's win, Olympic champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy
Mainaky defeated Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung 15-9, 15-4 and
Marleve Mainaky put the result beyond doubt with a 15-2, 15-1 win
over Jang Chun-woong.
Malaysia's most impressive performance came from world number
six and 1998 All-England finalist Ong Ewe Hock who trounced
Jeroen Van Dijk 15-3, 15-6.