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