Shutterbugs flashed out

JAKARTA (JP): Some spectators in the Senayan Badminton Hall were so eager to take pictures of their idols they forgot a basic rule in badminton: no flash photography.

Several teenage girls who had snapped photographs of Indonesia's Indra Wijaya, Hariyanto Arbi and Ricky Subagja ended up returning home empty-handed yesterday after stadium security guards took their cameras and confiscated the film.

The guards acted after Indonesian Joko Suprianto complained to the umpire the camera flash was distracting him when he served during his men's singles semifinals.

The teenagers could only grumble at the loss of their film, but at least they got their cameras back. Joko had nothing to smile about as he was blitzed by Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock. (yan)