Indonesia off to flying start in Sudirman Cup
Indonesia off to flying start in Sudirman Cup
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Agencies): Although Indonesia rested
badminton queen Susi Susanti and world number one men's doubles
team Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja, it remained too strong for
Thailand, which suffered a 0-5 rout in the Sudirman Cup mixed
team championship opener here on Thursday.
Neat team work on the part of Trikus Heryanto and Minarti
Timur opened the demolition night, with the Indonesian mixed
doubles team making light work of Kunakorn Sudhisodhi and Pleonta
Boonyarit 15-5, 15-4.
Uber Cup heroine Mia Audina, making her Sudirman Cup debut,
proved she deserved Susi's mantle with a 11-6, 11-8 victory over
Pornsawan Plungvech to put Indonesia 2-0 up.
The Thomas Cup and Uber Cup holder maintained its firm grip,
taking an unassailable 3-0 lead after two-time All-England
champion Hariyanto Arbi punished Vacharapan Khamtong with his
bullet smashes for a easy 15-2, 15-7 victory.
Soon after women's doubles team Eliza and Zelin Resiana made
it 4-0 for Indonesia, Thailand put up a late struggle, when its
number two men's doubles team Siripong Siripul and Kunakorn
forced their opponents Bambang Supriyanto and Rudy Gunawan to
labor.
The Thais bounced back to take the second set, only to lose 2-
15, 15-8, 8-15 to their more experienced rivals.
"Gunawan was not in top form," coach Christian Hadinata said
of his 30-year-old player.
Gunawan, a solid regular since 1985, gave head coach Indra
Gunawan a thriller when his slowing pace cost his team a second-
set defeat. "We earned a big win, but we could have
underestimated the final rubber," Indra said.
Indonesia is now preparing for a possible top-of-the-table
clash with Denmark, which was without All-England Poul Erik
Hoyer-Larsen when it beat Thailand 4-1 on Wednesday.
"We have to top the group if we want to take an easier road to
the title," said Indra.
Non-Asian
Denmark was the only non-Asian team to qualify for the
semifinals. Indonesia, South Korea and China cruised safely into
the last four.
South Korea's 4-1 win over England and Indonesia's 5-0 defeat
of Thailand also means England and Thailand will play to avoid
relegation from group 1.
On Friday (early this morning West Indonesian Time), China was
scheduled to face South Korea in group 1A and Indonesia was to
play Denmark in group 1B with the winner of each match playing
the loser in Saturday's semifinals.
In the other group 1, England got off to a fine start as 1994
All England mixed doubles champions Nicholas Ponting and Joanne
Wright beat Kang Kyung-jin and Gil Young-ah 15-11, 15-1.
But the maneuverability of Asian Games champion Bang Soo-hyun
was too much for Joanne Muggeridge in the women's singles.
European bronze medalist Anders Nielsen was also no match for
world number 18 Kim Hak Kyun in the men's singles.
Korea clinched its 3-1 lead with when Yoo Yong-sung and Kim
Dong-moon easily beat European champions Simon Archer and Chris
Hunt 15-6, 15-7.
Korea finished off the win when Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ock
beat Gillian Gowers and Julie Bradbury 15-10, 17-14.