Susanti scrapes by to win 5th grand prix

Susanti scrapes by to win 5th grand prix

BANGKOK (Reuter): World number one Susi Susanti of Indonesia survived four match points before beating Ye Zhaoying of China for a record fifth women's singles title in the World Grand Prix badminton finals yesterday.

Ardy Wiranata also came from behind to win a dramatic three- game battle against fellow Indonesian Alan Budi Kusuma in the men's singles final of the $300,000 tournament.

Ye, beaten by Susanti last year, dominated from the start this time, playing aggressively to take the first game 11-4. When the score stood at 7-7 in the second game, Ye again raced away to 10-7 and had four title points within her grasp.

But Susanti called on her experience in defense, sweeping to the game 12-10 and dominating the third to complete a 4-11 12-10 11-4 triumph.

Wiranata, too, made a disastrous start, trailing 9-1 against the smashing power of Olympic champion Kusuma at one stage and losing the first game 15-9.

But Wiranata, who lost the Olympic final to his compatriot, patiently worked his way back into contention towards the end of the first game, forcing Kusuma into long baseline rallies and making him work hard for every point.

As Kusuma began to tire and make unforced errors, Wiranata played superbly at the net to take the second game and force a decider.

Ten minutes into the third game, it was all over as Kusuma's resistance suddenly crumbled and Wiranata went on to take the victory by 9-15 15-7 15-5.

In an all-Scandinavian mixed-doubles final, Thomas Lund and Marlene Thomson of Denmark beat Swedes Jan-Eric Antonsson and Astrid Crabo 12-15 15-4 15-9.

It was Lund's fifth consecutive win in this event, with different partners.