Indonesia beats S. Korea to reach Thomas Cup final

By Arif Suryobuwono

HONG KONG (JP): Bold and cold Joko Suprianto shrugged off an age disadvantage to outwit Park Sung-woo, ushering in Indonesia's 3-2 edging of South Korea in a delayed Thomas Cup semifinal yesterday.

The 30-year-old Indonesian stealthily overcame his 9-13 deficit in the first set with clever half-court chops to beat the 24-year-old Korean 18-17, 15-1 in a tiring match.

The semifinal was delayed for 30 minutes due to a bomb scare at the Queen Elizabeth stadium, the venue of the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals. It turned out to be a hoax.

Hong Kong Badminton Association vice president Soo Ka Ching announced they found a plastic bag with a note inside reading "Don't touch, dangerous!". The bang was hung on a cistern in one of the men's toilets.

Indonesia's more frightening partnership of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky rolled over South Korea's doubles pair of Ha Tae- kwon and Kang Kyung-jin like an avalanche. The pair disposed of their opponents 15-10, 15-7 in 40 minutes to give Indonesia a 2-0 lead.

Indonesia rested world champion Hariyanto Arbi and let Olympic gold medalist Alan Budikusuma finish the job. Alan sealed South Korea's fate with a comfortable 15-6, 15-9 win over Lee Kwan-jin, earning Indonesia an unassailable 3-0 lead.

The Indonesians fell apart in the remaining two games. Indonesia's second doubles of Deny Kantono and Antonius fell to Park Joo-bong and Kim Dong-moon 0-15, 5-15, while Ardy Wiranata lost to Ahn Jae-chang 8-15, 3-15.

Jumping smashes

Defending champion Indonesia will play Denmark tomorrow for the coveted Thomas Cup. It will be the second finals meeting between the teams in 17 years. Indonesia routed Denmark 9-0 in the 1979 final.

World number one Joko kept lowering the birdie to keep Park retrieving, before finishing the South Korean with jumping smashes.

Joko varied this attack with net rallies, an open wound for Park.

"That way he found most of his answers in the net," said Joko, whose fluctuating world number one position will now find firm anchorage.

Joko's coach, Triadji, referred to Joko's second set as the real Joko. "That was Joko at his best. He cleverly managed his tempo to allow recovery. Park, on the other hand, clearly lost steam and fitness. He looked like he was walking in the mud, heavily answering Joko's chops."

Alan, who also decided Indonesia's win over China in their group match last Friday, said he never thought he could beat Lee that easily.

"Lee is very persistent. In the second set I began to feel tired and this made it easier for him to score points." Alan said.

Indonesia's team manager Lutfi Hamid said Indonesia was lucky all its players performed extraordinarily well today. He added that the key to his team's victory lay in Alan. "Our decision to field Alan instead of Hariyanto paid off," Lutfi said. He refused to explain why, only offering that it was a "new" Alan he was referring to.

Lutfi, however, was dissatisfied with how the Danes were ranked. "If doubles specialist Thomas Lund failed to come due to injury, his partner Jon Holst Christensen cannot remain as the first-string doubles. But the referees ruled out our complaints."

Lutfi was also unhappy with the doping tests which, according to him were not administered randomly. "Every Indonesian player who wins is subjected to a dope test. When I asked the referee how many Danish players are tested, his answer was 'I can't tell you.'"

South Korea's doubles specialist Park Joo-bong, who acted as a spokesman for his team, said the Indonesian doubles team was actually very strong.

"Yes, we lost, but at least we performed well."

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