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.