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