RI shuttlers drub Malaysia to take Asia Cup crown

RI shuttlers drub Malaysia to take Asia Cup crown

HO CHI MINH CITY (Agencies): Indonesia romped to the
US$100,000 Asia Cup crown here Sunday with a crushing 3-0 defeat
of arch rival Malaysia in a one-sided final.

Indonesia took home the JVC Asia Cup and $50,000 in prize
money.

The unbeaten Indonesian players proved supreme as the
undisputed leaders of badminton in Asia. They still are proven
too strong for other Asian players, not having lost a game on
each tie.

Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat set his team on the way to
victory with a easy win in the opening singles rubber, beating
Malaysia's Jason Chan 15-4 15-10.

Hidayat had too much class for his opponent, pulling him all
over the court with some clever shots to wrap up a straight sets
victory.

Next it was the turn of Indonesia's trusty doubles duo of Tony
Gunawan and Candra Wijaya to notch a win.

The pairing's pace around the court and telepathic
understanding was too much for Malaysia's Rosman Razak and Chew
Chun Eng, who slumped to a 15-9, 15-7 defeat.

The Malaysian duo had briefly made a game of it in the first
set, leading 9-5. But when Gunawan and Wijaya finally clicked, it
was all over.

In the third and final rubber, Hendrawan made it 3-0 overall
cleansweep, cruising to beat Ismail Saman 15-5, 15-6.

Earlier, in the third place playoff match South Korea beat
China 2-1.

Sun Jun was forced to forfeit the match when he couldn't stand
the pain of his back. He retired after losing the first set 15-2
and 5-0 in the second set.

The Chinese pairs of Zhang Jun and Yu Jinhao tried to fight
the Koreans Kim Doong-moon/Ha Tae-kwon but the Koreans were too
strong to beat. The Chinese came down 15-5, 15-3.

Cheng Hong battled the gruelling one-hour match for his team
to bear the patient Korean Park Tae-sang. Cheng lost the first
game 12-15 but took the two other games by 15-7, 15-13.

The Koreans took home $15,000 while the Chinese $10,000.

Chandra and Tony were voted the Most Valuable Players in the
tournament.

Results

Final
Indonesia bt Malaysia 3-0
Taufik Hidayat bt Jason Chan 15-4, 15-10
Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya bt Rosman Razak/Chew Chun Eng 15-9,
15-7
Hendrawan bt Ismail Saman 15-5, 15-6

Third place playoff

South Korea bt China 2-1
Ahn Jae-chang bt Sun Jun 15-2 5-0 (Sun Jun ret injury);
Kim Dong-moon/Ha Tae-kwon bt Zhang Jun/Yu Jin Hao 15-0, 15-5;
Chen Hong bt Park Tae-sang 12-15, 15-7, 15-13.