Indonesia's Nova, Vita win Japan Open

Indonesia's Nova, Vita win Japan Open

Agencies, Jakarta

Indonesia's mixed pairing of Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa
won the US$180,000 Japan Open badminton tournament after beating
Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam of Thailand in the
finals in Tokyo on Sunday.

The Indonesians, who were seeded eighth, defeated the seventh
seeded Thais 15-10, 15-13, according to the tournament's website.

It was the first win for the 2003 Taiwan Open champions this
year and it came a week after they crashed out in the
quarterfinals of the Korea Open.

It was the only title the Indonesian team brought home as the
team's other members fell by the wayside.

Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto, who won the only title for
Indonesia at the Korea Open, and Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian lost
in the semifinals on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Indonesian-born Ronald Susilo and Mia Audina
Tjiptawan shone in the tournament, beating top seeded Chinese
players to win the men's and women's singles titles, AFP
reported.

Susilo, who gained Singaporean citizenship two years ago,
enjoyed the best day in his career when he outclassed world
number five Bao Chunlai with a 15-13, 15-6 success to win his
biggest career men's title.

Audina, the Atlanta Olympic silver medalist with Netherlands
citizenship, shocked reigning world number one and All England
champion Gong Ruina 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 to win back the women's
title she took seven years ago as an Indonesian.

"It's a really happy match, because I've never won against
her," said Audina, 24.

"I really had to be patient. I lost to her in Korea (last
week) because I was ill, and it's not easy to keep my
concentration mentally.

"I think it's very important to beat her to win this
tournament," added a jubilant Audina, who lost to Gong in her
previous five matches, including a quarterfinal loss at the 2001
world championships.

It was also Susilo's first win over Bao in four encounters.

"I guess I just believed in myself that I can do it," Susilo,
ranked 15, said of the key to the victory, the first one since
winning the Thailand Open in January last year in the Grand Prix
series.

"I knew I was an underdog, he's higher ranked than me, so I
played more relaxed, I didn't feel any pressure, I just enjoyed.
That's why I could play all my ability on the court."

Susilo used an array of effectively disguised overhead drops
to Bao's backhand front corner and elicited some errors off the
Chinese left-hander before taking the first game from 10-13 down.

Susilo jumped ahead 7-2 from a 2-2 tie in the second game,
often showing quick attacks at the net to win rallies. When he
was leading 11-4, it was apparent that it was Susilo's day.

Susilo smashed hard twice in a row to take a 13-6 lead, then
his short serve caused a return error from Bao. Susilo then
completed his victory with another quick attack at the net on his
second match point.