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.