Indonesia triumphs over Malaysia in Thomas Cup

Eva C. Komadjaja, Jakarta

Indonesia overcame archrival Malaysia 3-1 to reach the semifinals of the Uber Cup badminton championship on the same day that the women's team fell to South Korea in the Uber Cup.

Flandy Limpele and Eng Hiang decided Indonesia's victory, with a 15-9, 13-15, 15-12 win over Koo Kien Keat and Chew Choon Eng.

Sony Dwi Kuncoro, the world No. 9, recovered from jitters to stun Wong Choon Han -- no. 4 -- 12-15, 15-2, 15-6.

Malaysia evened the score through Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook, who brushed aside Luluk Hadiyanto/Yulianto Alvent 15-12, 15-6 in the match in which the Indonesian pair made a string of mistakes in the second game.

Taufik Hidayat brought Indonesia back to the driving seat with his commanding 15-10, 15-2 win over Roslin Hashim. It was Taufik's fourth win over Roslin in their four matches.

It was also Indonesia's second straight victory over Malaysia, after Guangzhou, China, in 2002, to retain the Thomas Cup trophy five consecutive times.

While the Indonesian men marched to the semifinals, their female compatriots fell at the hands of South Korea losing 1-3.

China advanced to the semifinals after defeating Japan 3-0. China's first singles Lin Dan, the number one player in the world, was too strong for Shoji Sato, ranked 21st. Lin won 15-9, 15-13.

The Japanese pair Keita Masuda and Tadashi Ohtsuka were overwhelmed by Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, going down 15-4, 15-5.

Chen Hong sealed China's place in the semifinals with a convincing 15-2, 15-2 win over Hidetaka Yamada.

Indonesia's next opponent is Denmark, with a 3-1 winner over Germany on Wednesday, while China will be challenged by South Korea, also a 3-1 winner over Thailand.

In the Denmark-Germany match, Peter Gade Christensen, the Danish number one, did not play and was replaced by Kenneth Jonasen, ranked 12th in the world.

Kenneth beat Germany's number one Bjoern Joppien 15-9, 15-11.

The number one pair in the world Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen did not have any trouble defeating Bjoern Siegemund and Ingo Kindervater. The Danes won 15-2, 15-5 over the Germans.

Danish third singles Anders Boesen unfortunately lost 6-15, 3- 15 to Jens Roch. Second doubles Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Jens Eriksen finally ended their Wednesday match after defeating German pair Jochen Cassel and Kristof Hopp by 15-8, 15-7.

Thailand's first singles Boonsak Polsana won 16-17, 3-15 over fifth-ranked Lee Hyun-Il, but the Thais could not prevent their loss against Korea.

Thailand's pair Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas failed to win the second game, although they managed to force it to a decider, losing 15-5, 7-15, 15-11 to Lee Dong So and Yoo Yong Sung.