Malaysians beat Ricky and Rexy in GP Finals
Malaysians beat Ricky and Rexy in GP Finals
By Primastuti Handayani
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Indonesia's Olympic men's doubles gold winners and world number one pair Ricky Subagdja and Rexy Mainaky yesterday suffered a defeat against Malaysia's Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock, the pair the Indonesians beat in the Atlanta Olympic Games last year.
In a close battle of the world's badminton titans, Ricky and Rexy had a relatively easy time in winning the first set in 15-7. The Malaysian pair fought back to win the second set in even easier fashion as they wrapped it up 15-3.
With neither side giving anything, the decisive set became a fierce battle to score points. But the better players on the day, Cheah and Yap, eventually won it in 18-16. The defeat of Ricky and Rexy, however, did not affect their chances of proceeding to the next round as they finished second in the group behind the Malaysians.
Susi Susanti, playing in group D of the women's singles notched an easy passage when she gunned down China's Han Jingna 11-5 11-4.
"I just played a safe game as the wind, which has been disturbing many players since the opening round, is still swirling around the court today," said Susi after the match.
In the men's singles Alan Budikusuma beat Olympic gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen 15-4, 15-7.
Hoyer-Larsen said afterwards: "Alan is playing very good. He destroyed me with his killing smashes which I was unable to answer."
New system
The Council of the International Badminton Federation (IBF) has agreed to use the new scoring system at the US$190,000 Sanyo World Cup Badminton Championship in Jakarta, next week.
Jeff Robson, a federation official and an honorary referee for the championship, said yesterday that the governing body has decided to use the 15-point system with a 90-second break at point 8 instead of using the 5-times-9 scoring system, which was used at the Dutch Open in September.
"In the tournaments, there is a break in each game when the players reach eight points. The break is 90 seconds and coaching is allowed. The coach can be at the side of the court to discuss with the player how to play the rest of the game," Robson said.
In the women's singles, the break is after six points and then the setting will be only at point 10. The players have three options: sudden death, two or three points.
In the men's singles and doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, the players will have the break after eight points. The setting options are the same.
In the third game, ends will be changed when the first player reaches eight points, or six in women's singles, during the interval.
"We've tried the 5-times-nine-scoring system and it was received very well, especially by the media, television and the watching public," he said.
"Players must play more aggressively, they have to attack more and this is what the spectators want" he added.
Robson said that the federation needs more time to try the systems in international tournaments in order to gauge the players' responses. The federation has yet to decide which system will eventually be applied in tournaments.
"The system will be tried again but please don't expect it to come in six months because we have to make sure that people are comfortable with it. We'll decide which way we go but there's no use in rushing," he said.
Meanwhile, Punch Gunalan, the Asian Badminton Confederation's president, said that its members have agreed not to support the scoring system changes.
But they still support all efforts to develop badminton playing and competitions and to attract more spectators.
IBF president Lu Shengrong denied rumors that the World Cup championship will be the last.
"If it lasts, then it must be next year's tournament. We will try to establish a new tournament to replace the World Cup," she said.
Lu said that the reason for eliminating the World Cup is because there are too many tournaments in a year and the time is almost the same as the Grand Prix Finals.
Leo Wiranata, the organizers' secretary, said that rookie Jefer Rosobin is to replace Hariyanto Arbi, who misses the tournament due to his injury.
But the organizers have yet to receive a withdrawal letter from Joko Suprianto, who was injured during the GP Finals here Wednesday.
Leo said that to attract more people to watch the World Cup matches, the organizers have delivered free tickets to badminton club branches in Jakarta and other provinces for the event at the Senayan Sports Hall.
"About one-third of the seats are allocated free. But many people don't want to come to Senayan because of the inconvenience and insecure feeling," he said.