Indonesia beats China, meets Denmark in semis

Indonesia beats China, meets Denmark in semis

By Primastuti Handayani

KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Defending champion Indonesia cruised into
the final four after surprisingly overcoming favorite China 4-1
in the last round-robin yellow group of the Thomas Cup
championships at Putra Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

On the next court, host and runner-up Malaysia battled in a
do-or-die match against another favorite, Denmark, before finally
bowing out 4-1.

Indonesia will face Denmark in the semifinals on Friday while
on Thursday China is to take on South Korea, which defeated India
4-1 on Tuesday.

Playing as the first singles, Indonesia's Hendrawan managed to
overcome the pressure before nearly 12,000 spectators, including
1,500 Indonesians, to beat Ji Xinpeng 15-7, 15-12.

Playing with neat netting combined with excellent drop shots
and leaping smashes, Hendrawan, number two in the world, forced
Ji to commit unforced errors. Ji's offensive drop shots failed to
go through the Indonesian's solid defense.

Doubles Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan had to fight extra hard
to overcome Yu Jinhao and Chen Qiqiu 15-10, 15-11. Despite their
victory, Candra and Tony still made unforced errors, especially
in the first game. In the second game, Tony's outstanding
performance managed to help Candra find his rhythm before
concluding the match.

Second singles Taufik Hidayat, accompanied by his parents and
former coach Iie Sumirat, played well in the first game to win
15-10. But in the second game, he got off to a shaky start to be
downed 6-12 and unable to grab more points as Lou took the game
15-6.

In the decider, Taufik led 11-4 before his nerves got the
better of him to allow Lou to narrow the margin to 10-11. But the
19-year-old world number five was able to control his emotions to
play more tactically to grab the remaining four points to win 15-
10.

Unfortunately, 1996 Olympic Games gold medalists Ricky Subagja
and Rexy Mainaky failed to contest Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun and
bowed out at 8-15, 6-15.

In the last singles match, Marlev Mainaky, runner-up of the
1999 Grand Prix Finals, defeated Chen Hong 15-12, 15-3.

Indonesian deputy team manager Hadi Nazri admitted that China
did not field its full team against Indonesia.

"If they were serious about winning, they would have fielded
their best players. If we look at the IBF (International
Badminton Federation) ranking, we can see that China has young,
good players but we have a combination of experienced and young
shuttlers."

Hadi observed Taufik's poor form in the second game.

"I see Taufik played differently today compared to his
previous performance. I don't think we can judge Taufik's
performance as that good today," he said.

Dane Peter Gade Christensen contributed the first point to his
country, performing excellently in a tough match against Wong
Choong Hann, who seemed to be very nervous in the match, to
conclude 15-7, 15-6.

But Malaysian number one duo of Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan
Fook, cheered on by the full-house, managed to tie 1-1 after
defeating Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske 15-12, 15-10 in
a very tough match.

Denmark earned a second point with 1996 Olympic Games champion
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen who survived the crowd's jeering to win
17-14, 15-12 against home "bad boy" Ong Ewe Hock.

Danish second doubles Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen came out
the heroes for their country as they finally overcame 1996
Olympics silver medalists Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock 15-8,
8-15, 15-5.

Results

Indonesia bt China 4-1: Hendrawan bt Ji Xinpeng 15-7 15-12,
Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan bt Yu Jinhao/Chen Qiqiu 15-10 15-11,
Taufik Hidayat bt Lou Yigang 15-10 6-15 15-10, Ricky Subagja/Rexy
Mainaky lost to Zhang Wei/Zhang Jun 8-15 6-15, Marlev Mainaky bt
Chen Hong 15-12 15-3

England bt Sweden 4-1: Colin Haughton lost to Thomas Johansson
13-15 11-15, Darren Hall bt Rasmus Wengberg 14-17 15-12 15-12,
Nathan Robertson/Simon Archer bt Par-Gunnar Jonsson/Peter Axelsson
15-9 15-6, Mark Constable bt Martin Hagberg 15-9 15-12, Anthony
Clark/Ian Sullivan bt Rasmus Wengberg/Frederik Bergstrom 15-8 15-7

Denmark bt Malaysia 4-1: Peter Gade Christensen bt Wong Choong
Hann 15-7 15-6, Martin Lundgaard Hansen/Lars Paaske lost to Lee Wan
Wah/Choong Tan Fook 12-15 10-15, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen bt Ong Ewe
Hock 17-14 15-12, Jens Eriksen/Jesper Larsen bt Cheah Soon Kit/Yap
Kim Hock 15-8 8-15 15-5, Kenneth Jonassen bt Yong Hock Kin
15-6 14-17 15-1

South Korea bt India 4-1: Shon Seung-mo lost to Pulella
Gopichand 7-15 7-15, Lee Dong-soo/Yoo Yong-sung bt Markose
Bristow/Jaseel Ismail 15-0 15-8, Lee Hyun-il bt Nikhil Kanetkar
15-12 15-5, Ahn Jae-chang/Kim Dong-moon bt Anand Chetan/Sachin
Ratti 15-2 15-8, Park Tae-sang bt Sidharth Jain 15-12 15-11