HK upsets Indonesia in Uber Cup ties
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)