HK upsets Indonesia in Uber Cup ties
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia was upset by Hong Kong 2-3 in second- day action at the Thomas and Uber Cup semifinals in New Delhi on Thursday.
First singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja fell to Ling Wan Ting 11-2, 10-13, 11-13, while third singles Yuli Marfuah lost to Wang Chen, a Chinese national playing for Hong Kong, 11-6, 7-11, 4-11.
Second singles Ellen Angelina managed to close the gap to 1-2 by defeating Koon Wai Che 11-6, 11-8, and first doubles Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban equaled the match 2-2 by thrashing Koon and Chan Mei Mei 15-4, 15-1.
However, in the deciding match second doubles Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta fell despite taking the first set 15-8. The Hong Kong duo of Ling and Wang stormed back to take the next two sets 0-15, 11-15, securing the victory over Indonesia.
Team manager Christian Hadinata could not hide his disappointment in a telephone interview with The Jakarta Post.
"We are really disappointed with the results. On paper, we should have won 3-2 or 4-1, but Etty and Cynthia were too tense in the deciding match and started to make unforced errors," he said.
"Etty and Cynthia should have been able to take advantage of their opponents' physical weariness, as the Hong Kong players played singles matches earlier. But they threw away the chance and were very nervous in the second set, going down 0-15.
"The second set loss influenced their play in the do-or-die set, and made them lose their coordination between movement and mind," he said.
Christian said the Badminton Association of Indonesia had asked professional motivator Andrie Wongso and National Sports Council chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar to boost the motivation of the team before the competition in New Delhi.
"I don't understand why they failed to fulfill their mission, when we tried so hard to boost their motivation. They are still unable to control themselves, particularly on critical points," he said.
Christian also was worried about his team's chances against Chinese Taipei on Friday.
"I think the Taipei shuttlers are better than Hong Kong's. I told the players to seize their chances tomorrow. We are in a very difficult position. It's up to them to take or leave the opportunity.
"If they want to seize the opportunity, they must fight harder than today against the Taipei shuttlers. If they can win tomorrow's match, they still have a chance to reach the Uber Cup finals in Kuala Lumpur in May. If they fail, then they must pack their things and go home," he said.
In Sofia, AFP reported that Denmark, the favorite to win the Uber Cup European zone, was surprised by a hard-working Russian team before coming through with a 3-2 victory in their opening match on Wednesday.
Only world champion Camilla Martin won comfortably, and had world bronze medalist Mette Sorensen not come from behind to take the second singles against former European silver medalist Marina Yakusheva, the Danes could have found themselves on the losing end on Wednesday. (yan)