Indonesian shuttlers fail in All England
Indonesian shuttlers fail in All England
BIRMINGHAM, England (Agencies): Indonesia failed to bring home
a single title from the All England Badminton Open yesterday.
First seeded Tri Kusherjanto/Minarti Timur failed to fulfill
the country's only hope of winning the mixed doubles, losing 10-
15, 2-15 to fifth seeds Ge Fei/Liu Yong.
Tri/Minarti failed to take advantage of Ge's physical
condition. Ge had just won the women's doubles with partner Gu
Jun earlier.
Tri/Minarti led 4-0 in the first set but then the Indonesians
spoilt everything by making unforced errors, letting the Chinese
pair take control.
Ge/Liu led 11-4 before Tri/Minarti came from behind to reach
10-11. Tri/Minarti lost the match 10-15.
In the second set, Ge/Liu dominated the playing and concluded
the match 15-2 to win the title.
Earlier, Ge/Gu, the Olympic gold medalists, retained their
title by defeating Indonesia's second seeded Eliza and Zelin
Resiana 15-6, 15-9.
It was Eliza/Zelin's 18th loss to Chinese Ge/Gu.
This year's results could be one of the worst for Indonesia.
Last year Indonesia only took one title when Ricky Subagja/Rexy
Mainaky took the men's doubles.
The Olympic silver medalist Dong Jiong of China won the men's
singles final over Chinese compatriot Sun Jun 15-9, 15-5.
Revenge
Dong, possibly the most dynamic player on the men's circuit,
had his revenge late Friday on Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, who took
the Olympic gold last summer.
Dong overcame the tall Dane in straight games, a perfect
prelude for yesterday's win over Sun Jun, who had claimed his
place in the final with an excellent win 15-10, 15-11 over world
champion Hariyanto Arbi of Indonesia.
Truth to tell, however, the final was a lackluster affair.
Dong was largely in control and the only time Sun, a former
world junior champion, got within striking distance, he blew his
chances with errors at the net.
It was 23-year-old Dong's first major success and on current
form the world championship in Glasgow in May looks well within
his grasp.
Yesterday looked like being a memorable day for the Chinese.
The country's shuttlers won four titles.
In the women's singles final, world champion Ye Zhaoying, who
beat junior Dai Yun in Friday's semis, easily beat Chinese
compatriot Gong Zhichao 11-1, 11-3 in 15 minutes.
As Gong failed to return her backhand netting, Ye raised her
left hand to celebrate her first victory in the All-England.
Gong, who upset Indonesian Susi Susanti in the quarterfinals
and defeated South Korean Ra Kyung-min in the semis, failed to
make another hattrick in the tournament.
The men's doubles title went to South Korea's Ha Tae-kwon and
Kang Kyung-jin who upset Michael Soogard/Jon-Holst Christensen of
Denmark 15-11, 15-7.
Unseeded Ha/Kang, who surprisingly beat first seeded Sigit
Budiarto/Chandra Wijaya of Indonesia in Friday's semifinals,
performed their best against the Danish, who upset the Olympic
silver medalists Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock of Malaysia in the
semifinals.
Results
Women's doubles: Ge Fei/Gu Jun (Chn) bt Eliza/Resiana Zelin (Ina)
15-6, 15-9
Men's singles: Dong Jiong (Chn) bt Sun Jun (Chn) 15-9, 15-5
Men's doubles: Ha Tae-kwon/Kang Kyung-jin (SKor) bt Michael
Soogard/Jon-Holst Christensen (Den) 15-11, 17-16
Women's singles: Ye Zhaoying (Chn) bt Gong Zhichao 11-1, 11-3
Mixed doubles: Ge Fei/Liu Yong (Chn) bt Tri Kusherjanto/Minarti
Timur (Ina) 15-10, 15-2