Indonesia goes down to China, relegated to play-off against NZ
Indonesia goes down to China, relegated to play-off against NZ
Eva C. Komandjaja and Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta
Indonesia suffered a loss to China in their last Group A match
in the Thomas Cup badminton championship here on Monday.
The defeat relegated the defending champion to a playoff
against New Zealand and a traditionally heated, crunch game
against Malaysia now looms.
Sony Dwi Kuncoro, world No. 9, stepped onto the court first.
He battled hard but found the world No. 4, left-handed Lin Dan, a
hard nut to crack.
With his sharp smashes, Lin rushed to a 7-2 lead before Sony
caught up to equal 8-8. The Chinese player got back in the
driving seat with a 12-9 lead only to allow Sony to peg back the
score at 13-13 and then 14-14.
Sony moved to a point of winning the first game when he went
to a 16-14 lead but he staggered at the critical moment when he
failed to return a smash.
Lin closed out the game 17-16, which was marked with long
rallies and deceiving crossing shots.
In the next game, Sony was left 7-1 behind. This time around
he seemed to lose his power, failing to correct many unforced
errors and allowing Lin to tighten his grip on the game with a
commanding lead.
Sony was allowed two more points before Lin rounded off the
match to a 15-3 win, putting favorite China 1-0 ahead.
The Chinese team extended its lead to 2-0 after Cai Yun and Fu
Haifeng brushed aside Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto 15-9,
15-10, in the doubles match, which saw the Indonesian pair
trailing throughout the first game.
The two sides produced a more lively second game, with the
Indonesians getting to a 6-5 lead before the Chinese fought back
to level at 9-9.
After that, the two sides changed serve seven times before Cai
and Fu rose to 11-9 and then 12-10, ending the match 15-10.
Indoensia's hopes of beating China were completely dashed
after Taufik Hidayat failed to overcome Bao Chunlai, crashing 15-
13, 15-6.
In the first game, Taufik struggled hard to earn his first
point after Bao had already built four-point cushion. Taufik put
up a good fight before surrendering.
Taufik was obviously waning in the second game, losing to Bao
after scoring only six points.
Indonesia failed to reduce the margin after Candra Wijaya and
Tri Kusharjanto went down to Sang Yang and Zheng Bo 15-13, 2-15,
15-11. The match between Simon Santoso and Xia Xuanze was still
underway at press time.
The defeat means that Indonesia has to struggle harder to
reach its target of getting into the finals.
It shouldn't be difficult to dispatch the rookie New Zealand
team in the playoffs. However, Group C winner Malaysia waits for
the defending champion in the quarterfinals and is likely to put
up the same tough competition as it has shown in the past.
The Indonesian team must be hoping the match against Malaysia
will be a repeat of the 2000 cup finals in Guangzhou, which
Indonesia won.