RI sweeps all titles at Indonesian Open
RI sweeps all titles at Indonesian Open
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia swept all titles in the finals of the
Indonesian Open badminton championship in Surakarta, Central Java
yesterday.
Olympic gold medalist Susi Susanti claimed the first victory
for Indonesia in the women's singles and at the same time
defended the Indonesian Open title.
Susi trashed the country's rising hope Meiluawati 11-4, 11-5
in a lopsided match that lasted about 30 minutes.
The victory was achieved without any serious challenge as
players from China were absent from the Indonesian Open this
year.
The Chinese contingent pulled out of the game at the last
minute after some of its players faced visa difficulties.
Except for South Korea's Lee Joo-hyun, which Susi beat in the
semifinals Saturday, Susi's opponents in the previous rounds had
all been Indonesians.
Susi dictated the pace and the play in the first set against
Meiluawati, with a series of rallies. Susi took the first set 11-
4.
But Susi's strategy did not work early in the second set, when
Meiluawati's aggressive play kept pressure on the senior player.
The Indonesian ace shuttler forced her junior back to the long
rallies which saw a lot of errors from Meiluawati and wrapped up
the second set 11-5.
"Perhaps they are all young players who still need more
experience in competition abroad to gain more confidence," Susi
said after the game on why she remained mostly unbeaten by her
compatriots.
Susi was not seriously challenged by her compatriot players
except Sarwendah who beat her in the world championship in 1990.
Susi won the Malaysian Open last week.
In the all-Indonesian mixed doubles, the world's second ranked
Trikus Haryanto and Minarti Timur made it a fast, 48 minute
affair to defeat Bambang Suprianto and Rosalina Riseu, in a
straight set match 15-11, 15-6.
In the men's singles Ardy B. Wiranata easily defeated Marleve
Mainaky 15-9, 15-3 in the US$200,000 championship.
First seeded Ardy managed to score his fifth Indonesian Open
victory after defeating rising star Marleve.
Ardy raced to take the lead by scoring five points leaving
Marleve trailing 5-2 in the first set.
Marleve failed to surpass the 6-7 score as his senior
countryman maintained his powerful rally to take the lead 9-13
and won 9-15 in the fist set.
Exhausted Marleve lost his confidence without making any
smashes in the second set putting Ardy 10 points ahead.
Marleve only managed to score three points to compete against
Ardy who still showed his constant lob and good netting to take
15-3.
Ardy was named the best singles player at the championship.
Results
Women's singles:
Susi Susanti (Ina) bt Meiluawati (Ina) 11-4, 11-5
Men's singles:
Ardi B. Wiranata (Ina) bt Marleve Mainaky (Ina) 15-9, 15-3
Women's doubles:
Eliza/Zelin Resiana (Ina) bt Finarsih/Minarti Timur (Ina) 15-10, 15-5
Men's doubles:
Sigit Budiarto/ Chandra Wijaya (Ina) bt Yoo Young-sung/Lee Dong-
soo (Kor) 15-9, 15-10
Mixed doubles:
Trikus Haryanto/Minarti Timur (Ina) bt Bambang Suprianto/Riseu
Rosalina (Ina) 15-11, 15-6