RI crashes out in Sudirman semis
RI crashes out in Sudirman semis
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian mixed badminton team failed to reach the final of
the Sudirman Cup after losing 3-1 to China at the Indoor
Sportcentrum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands on Saturday afternoon.
The result was worse than the 2001 edition of the Sudirman Cup
when Indonesia was beaten by China in the finals in Seville,
Spain.
Indonesia's only point was secured by Taufik Hidayat when he
defeated Bao Chunlai in the men's singles match, as reported by
the tournament's official website www.toernooi.nl.
Taufik, however, did not get the victory easily as he had to
concede the first game 7-15. Taufik was also reportedly hampered
by nagging ankle injuries.
The remaining two games were not won easily as Taufik had to
work hard before winning 15-12, 15-13.
In the women's singles match, second stringer Maria Kristin
did not surrender easily and gave her best before bowing 8-11, 8-
11 to Zhou Mi.
Indonesia's fate was sealed when its strongest men's doubles
pair of Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto were unable to produce
their best performance.
Candra and Sigit were defeated 10-15, 11-15 to Cai Yun and
Zhang Wei to give the Chinese team a 2-1 lead.
The Indonesian men's doubles pair, together with Taufik, was
expected to grab a crucial point as Indonesia does not have a
strong women's contingent at present.
It was predicted earlier that both Indonesia and China would
share the points at 2-2 after 4 matches and the winner would be
decided in the fifth match of mixed doubles.
Trailing 1-2, Indonesian women's doubles pair of Lita Nurlita
and Jo Novita could do nothing against their more experienced
opponents of Wei Yili and Zhou Mi.
The Indonesian girls were defeated 9-11, 2-11.
China's 3-1 victory meant that the mixed doubles match between
Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa against Zhang Jun and Gao Ling did
not need to be played.
China will face the winner of the second semifinals between
Denmark and South Korea later in the evening.