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.