Hermawan shocks Indonesian Open with loss to rookie

By Hidayat Jati

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Adrenalin finally started flowing at the RCTI Indonesia Open 1994 yesterday as giant-killer Hermawan Susanto was toppled by steel-nerved rookie Budi Santoso in a series of second-day upsets.

Hermawan, a 27-year-old Thomas Cup veteran, went down hard to second-string, but agile, Budi. The 19-year-old member of the junior national squad beat out fifth seed Hermawan in a tight three setter 15-4, 18-14, 15-8.

"What can I say, he played very well today," Hermawan, shirtless and bathed in sweat, told a reporters. "He deserves all the credit he can get."

From the very start, Budi drew Hermawan into a grueling game of long rallies, which the rookie smartly utilized as perfect setups for deadly counter-attacks.

"He returned all my strokes, even those which usually penetrate the defenses of much higher ranking players," Hermawan said. The fifth seed has earned a reputation as the leading shuttler with the most stable performance, but few championship titles.

Hermawan cited as an example the last point of the first set when Budi managed to return his smash. That retort made a noise like a gunshot, with the ball flashing into a corner to take Hermawan completely by surprise.

"You see, at that point I had already walked away in the other direction," he added.

Yesterday's battle, filled with awesome long rallies, drew the undivided attention of the 200-strong audience, most of whom cheered for the underdog, Budi.

At one point in the second set, when Budi raced to 13-6, some of them even yelled: "Come on youngster, finish him off!"

Despite their urging, Budi found it difficult to hold back cool-headed Hermawan and his spikes. The seasoned player made a spectacular comeback all the way to deuce, which he executed 18- 14.

Unfortunately for Hermawan, the lanky rookie, showed true grit and again trapped the world-class shuttler into treacherous rallies and counter-offensives during the third set.

"His rallies made me a bit frustrated," Hermawan said. "It was like playing to the wall."

Budi's coach told The Jakarta Post that the rookie is one of the best among the younger players.

"He performed exactly as I expected," he said.

"In about two years Budi will bloom into a full-pledged big league shuttler," the pleased coach predicted.

Women

Earlier in the day, surprises and tough matches also marked the women's singles and mixed doubles.

Fifth seed in the women's single, Danish player Camila Martin, who was struggling with a hip injury, lost after a nail-biting match with Silvia Anggraeni of the Indonesian national team. Silvia came out on top with 5-11, 12-11, 8-11.

"Camila was not playing her best due to her injury, she forced herself to come along to Yogya," said teammate Lisbet Stuer- Lauridsen.

During the early stages of the second set, Martin appeared to be in pain after stretching to return Silvia's cross-drop shot. From that point on, she moved with a limp.

Nevertheless, Martin refused to give up and fought on to the decider. Unfortunately, rotten luck seemed to be following her yesterday. When the shuttle cock hit her in the head, with Silvia holding a 9-6 lead, Martin's fate was sealed.

Meanwhile, a greater upset occurred when the second-seeded Danish mixed doubles, Par Gunnar Jonsson and Catrine Bengtsson, surrendered to the home pair of Tri Kusharyanto and Herawati 11- 15, 9-15.

The fine Indonesian pair dominated the match throughout and managed to break the Danes' nerves, resulted in streaks of unforced errors.

Results

Men's singles: Joko Suprianto (Ina) bt 15-4, 15-2 Hariyanto Arbi (Ina) bt Irwansyah (Ina) 15-4, 15-1 Ardy Wiranata (Ina) bt henky Irawan (Ina) 15-7, 15-11 Alan Budikusuma (Ina) bt Yohanes AK (Ina) 15-10, 15-4 Budi Santosa (Ina) bt Hermawan Susanto (Ina) 15-4, 14-18, 15-8 Kim Hak-kyun (Kor) bt Dwi Aryanto (Ina) 15-10. 6-15, 15-9 Park Sung-woo (kor) bt Setiyo Hartono (Ina) 15-9, 15-12 Fung Permadi (Ina) bt Johny Hidayat (Ina) 15-3, 15-7 Lioe Tion Ping (Ina) bt Eko W (Ina) 15-6, 15-6 Hendrawan (Ina) bt Teeran C. (Tha) 15-7, ret Jeroen van Dijk (Net) bt Terry H (Ina) 15-3, 15-4 Yu Lishi (Chn) bt Arief (Ina) 15-7, 15-6

Women's singles: Tan Jiuhong (Chn) bt Lidia (Ina) 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 Liu Yuhong (Chn) bt Luh Putu IA (Ina) 11-0, 11-5 Liem Xiaoqing (Swe) bt Villa Ratnasari (Ina) 11-1, 11-2 Yuni Kartika (Ina) bt Dwi Retnowati (Ina) 11-1, 11-0 Meiluawati (Ina) bt Porsawan (Tha) 11-7, 11-6 Ika henny (Ina) bt Melisa Dewi (Ina) 11-4, 11-1 Silvia Anggraeni (Ina) bt Catrine Bengtsson (Swe) 11-5, 2-11, 11-8 Lin Xiaoming (Chn) bt Olivia Herdiono (Ina) 11-1, 11-3 Yuliani Sentosa (Ina) bt Maya Dewi Sartika (Ina) 11-5, 11-2 Mia Audina (Ina) bt Leni Permana (Ina) 11-0, 11-0 Yao Yan (Chn) bt Kristin Yunita (Ina) 11-5, 11-3 Somharuthai Jaroensiri (Tha) bt Ita Ardwianti (Ina) 11-0, 11-4