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.