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.