Indonesian shuttlers clear first hurdles

Indonesian shuttlers clear first hurdles

JAKARTA (JP): Budi Santoso staged the biggest upset among
Indonesian shuttlers winning their first group of matches at the
2000 World Grand Prix Finals at Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium in
Brunei Darussalam on Wednesday.

Budi, a second-string men's single in the national team,
provided more evidence that elite players are not that easy to
adapt to the new scoring system, beating the Dane top seed in
straight sets 7-4, 8-6, 7-5 in their Group A match.

"Budi managed to prevent Peter from developing an offensive
play by placing the shuttlecock away from the net. It is Peter's
habit to move up to the net after initiating attacks to block a
counterattack," coach Agus Dwi Santoso told The Jakarta Post from
Brunei.

"Besides, it was apparent that Peter underestimated Budi, whom
he had beaten easily in previous encounters. So Peter was shocked
when Budi started dictating the game."

Agus also said the air conditioner was blowing so strong that
it made it difficult for players to control the shuttlecock.

World champion Hendrawan lived up to his billing with an easy
7-1, 7-1, 7-1 win over Dane Anders Boesen in Group B.

In Group C, Indonesian Open winner Marlev Mainaky turned the
tables on Sydney Olympic gold medalist Ji Xinpeng of China, whom
he beat 7-2, 7-0, 5-7, 7-4.

Another easy win was posted by Indonesian women's singles
Lidya Djaelawijaya, who beat Huang Chia-chi of Chinese Taipei 7-
2, 7-1, 7-2 in Group C. It took Lidya only 16 minutes to wrap up
the match.

Indonesian Open winner Ellen Angelina was the only Indonesian
casualty when she was beaten by former compatriot Mia Audina in
Group A. The Indonesian-born Dutch national, however, was forced
to flex her muscles to score a 7-2, 7-2, 3-7, 4-7, 8-6 win in 53
minutes.

"It was unfortunate because Ellen already had a match point at
6-4 in the decider, but she lost her aggressiveness. On the other
hand, Mia kept up the pace," said Agus.

Sydney Olympic gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan
had to work hard before finding the tune in the men's doubles
Group B. Candra and Tony defeated the Chinese pair of Zhang Wei
and Zhang Jun 7-3, 0-7, 7-1, 1-7, 7-1 in 32 minutes.

The Indonesian pair of Halim Haryanto and Sigit Budiarto did
not find it difficult to beat the Polish pair of Michael Logosz
and Robert Mateusiak 7-3, 7-3, 7-2 in Group A.

Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur had provided a prelude to a
dominant play performed by the Indonesians with a 7-8, 7-3, 8-6,
8-7 defeat of second seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of
Denmark in a see-saw mixed doubles Group B match.

"It was really a tight game. We've met several times and we
always beat each other more than 10 times. The main problem is
the air conditioner," Tri told Post over the phone. (nvn)