Indonesia gets off to winning start by drubbing U.S. in Thomas Cup
Indonesia gets off to winning start by drubbing U.S. in Thomas Cup
Eva C. Komandjaja and Zakki P. Hakkim, Jakarta
Indonesia got off to its expected winning start in its defense of
the Thomas Cup, racing to a 5-0 win over the unheralded United
States in a Group A match at Bung Karno Indoor Stadium here on
Saturday.
Thailand also chalked up a 5-0 win over South Africa, while
Germany conceded a point in its 4-1 win over New Zealand in a
match between outsiders in the men's team competition.
It only took 15 minutes for Sony Dwi Kuncoro to stop Eric Go
and thus give Indonesia a 1-0 lead over the United States, whose
lineup includes former Indonesian star Tony Gunawan.
But Tony, who also acts as the U.S. team coach, opted not to
play against his former teammates.
Sony, the ninth ranked player in the world, defeated Eric 15-4
15-8.
In the second game, Go, who is No. 93 in the world,
capitalized on Sony's nervousness to lead 8-4 before the
Indonesian regained his composure to fight back.
Sony admitted to being nervous which resulted in him playing
too cautiously. Fortunately for Sony, Go made many mistakes that
enabled Sony to finally win the match.
Taufik Hidayat doubled Indonesia's lead, losing only four
points in his 15-2, 15-2 win over Khan Bob Malaythong.
Like Sony, Simon Santoso also looked a bit nervous in his
debut in the competition against Olympic qualifier Kevin Han.
The 19-year-old explained that nerves got to him but he
managed to shake them off, partly due to the support of the home
fans in the stadium.
"I hope for more support from the fans when we play against
China," he said, referring to Indonesia's last match in the group
on Monday.
Men's singles coach Joko Supriyanto said that despite their
wins, Sony and Simon had not played their best as both had looked
under pressure at times.
Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian beat Eric Go and Khan Bob
Malaythong 15-8, 15-3, and Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto
defeated Kevin Han and Howard Bach 15-11, 15-5 to complete
Indonesia's victory.
Team manager Christian Hadinata shared Joko's opinion that the
debutants in the host team, including the doubles, were under so
much pressure that they were unable to play their best.
Christian said, however, that Saturday's match was a good
warmup for the squad ahead of their China encounter on Monday.
On Court 3, Germany, led by world No. 20 Bjoen Joppien,
managed to defeat another newcomer, New Zealand, whose coach
Grant stone previously said he hoped that his team would be able
to beat Germany in order to meet the U.S. in the playoff round.
The only point for New Zealand was taken by Geoffrey
Bellingham who beat Jens Roch 15-6 15-5. More stories Page 12