RI seeks crucial win in Uber Cup semifinals
By Arif Suryobuwono
HONG KONG (JP): A win, regardless the end score, will be just fine for Indonesia in its Uber Cup women's team badminton clash against Russia at the Queen Elizabeth stadium here today.
China, however, is out for a landslide win.
Today's Uber Cup matches will determine which four teams go to the semifinals on Thursday. Indonesia will play Russia, while China takes on Japan.
Indonesia's team manager Lutfi Hamid said that a 3-2 win would suffice. "Of course, I hope we can win it better. But a 3-2 score is enough for us to advance to the semifinals," Lutfi said in a down-to-earth tone yesterday.
He was apparently subdued because of his side's 5-0 rout by China on Saturday.
"Many say Russia is a minnow team but I'm afraid God will be angry if we are too greedy by wanting a 5-0 win," Lutfi added jokingly.
China's team manager Zhou Jincan, on the other hand, told The Jakarta Post that he has instructed his team to blank Japan 5-0. "Each point won is very important for us," Zhou said as if he was not sure of his team's expertise.
South Korea shall have an easy time beating England today, as coach Song Han-kuk put it yesterday. "In the semifinals I think we will play Denmark, while China will take on Indonesia."
Denmark should not have much trouble beating Hong Kong. Danish coach Morten Frost Hansen said that Denmark just had to win in order to secure a semifinal berth.
Crushing
On Saturday, China showed its intention to win back the trophy it won five straight times between 1982 and 1992 by crushing a Susi Susanti-less Indonesian squad 5-0.
A weakened defending champion failed to set up what should have been a rematch of its Uber Cup final against China in 1994, yet Indonesia's ace doubles team Eliza and Zelin Rosalina and debutante Lidya Djaelawijaya managed to scare the marauding Chinese.
Eliza and Zelin stunned an error-prone partnership of Ge Fei and Gu Jun with a 15-10 first-set win, before going down 9-15, 5- 15 to the Chinese world number one pair.
World number one Ye Zhaoying had an easy time mowing down Mia Audina 11-4, 11-4 in the opening rubber.
China completed its taking the wind out of Indonesia's sails with Han Jingna's 10-12, 11-3, 11-8 win over Lidya, Qin Yiyuan and Tang Yongshu's 15-3, 15-8 steamrolling of Lili Tampi and Finarsih and Wang Chen's 11-2, 11-2 demolition of Meiluawati.
China's coach Li Yongbo told reporters after the one-sided duel that "An Indonesian team without Susi Susanti could not be a real Indonesian Uber Cup team".
That Mia was fielded instead of Susi in the first singles left him in the dark about the real strength of the Uber Cup title holder. "If I were Indonesia's coach, I would field the best lineup. Had Susi played, the results could have been different," Li said.
He added that last night he decided to field his best team to beat Indonesia in order to avoid dark horse South Korea in the semifinals on Thursday.
Indonesia's training director Iwan Setiawan, however, suggested that the loss was part of his strategy. "We knew we would lose but we never expected to suffer such a big loss. We expected that our second duo of Lili Tampi and Finarsih could win," Iwan said.
Iwan added that he did not want to lay too much of a burden on his Uber Cuppers because his real target was reaching the semifinals. "I keep Susi for the semifinals. We didn't want her to meet Ye that early because Susi has lost to her three times in the last 12 months," said Iwan.
Susi went down to her arch-rival in the Japan Open last January, in the World Cup last September and in the World Championships in May last year.
Indonesian women's coach Imelda Wiguna suspected that Eliza and Zelin lost their concentration in their last two matches.
"Our doubles were more versatile. Zelin, in particular, was very sharp in ball placing. But Gu Jun had better smashes."
Imelda quoted Eliza and Zelin as saying that it was not a lack of stamina that caused the loss.
Ge Fei, on the other hand, said that she and Gu Jun were too afraid of losing the game and this adversely affected their performance in the first set. "We would have been able to beat the Indonesians quicker had it not be a team event. We were very concerned not to lose because it would terribly affect our team."
Ge Fei added that in the first and second sets, she and Gu Jun formed a shaky combination which resulted in "foolish" mistakes, such as replying to a shot by striking their rackets together.
Han Jingna on Lidya: "I am happy that I won. But I am not satisfied with my performance. I should have been able to finish her in just two sets."
On her easy win over Mia, a smiling Ye said, "I get the impression that she is afraid of me. Perhaps this is why she failed to play me as she usually does."
Results: China bt Indonesia 5-0 Denmark bt England 4-1 Japan bt Russia 5-0 South Korea bt Hong Kong 5-0 Today's fixtures: Group A: Indonesia vs Russia, China vs Japan Group B: South Korea vs England, Hong Kong vs Denmark