Hermawan shocks Indonesian Open with loss to rookie
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