Susi and Alan on course for another Olympic engagement

JAKARTA (JP): Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma strolled to convincing wins in their final group matches at the World Cup badminton championships here yesterday, paving their way to another Olympic engagement.

Susi and her fiance Alan, who gave Indonesia two gold medals in Barcelona in 1992, topped their respective groups for a place in today's semifinals, which will be packed with host players.

Top seed Susi never looked threatened in her thumping 11-2, 11-4 victory over Kim Ji-hyun of South Korea, with the Indonesian's brilliant net coverage thrilling the 1,000-strong home crowd.

Alan also did everything right against his toughest contender in Group D, Dong Jiong of China. The 26-year-old Indonesian fully banked on his jumping smashes to knock Dong out 15-12, 15-4.

Top seed Ardy Wiranata and world number five Joko Suprianto confirmed that Indonesia will dominate today's semifinals with hard-earned victories. The host players left the other semifinal berth to Chinese young gun Chen Gang.

Susi took the total control of her match, pushing Kim on her back court with her masterful overhead lobs in a number of rallies. It took defending champion Susi no less than 30 minutes to complete the one-sided match.

"It couldn't have gone better. I have played her many times and I knew well what I had to do," Susi said.

Susi will now take up her old battle against arch rival Lim Xiaoqing of Sweden, who easily overcame World Championships runner-up Han Jingna of China 11-2, 11-2 to finish unbeaten in Group B.

"Lim is a player with excellent variations, but I'm trying to do my best," said Susi, who has only lost one of her 10 games against the Swede.

Alan never let Dong slack off in their Group D match, with both players displaying acrobatic smashes in the opening set. But the Chinese ran out of the steam in the second, giving Alan more room to land his sizzling strokes.

"I played my favorite game today. Dong lacked the stamina necessary to survive such a quick game," Alan, who stretched his winning streak over Dong to 4-0, said.

Alan will have another clash against teammate Ardy in today's semifinals. Ardy played his third consecutive long game before seeing off Fung Permadi, a former teammate who now plays for Chinese Taipei, 15-4, 8-15, 15-3.

"I'd rather meet a foreign rival than my own mate," Alan said. "However, I'll have to fight it out in tomorrow's battle," he added.

The other men's singles semifinal will pit Joko, who beat South Korean Kim Hak-kyun 17-16, 15-5, against Group C winner Chen. The Chinese breezed past Thomas Johansson of Sweden 15-6, 15-2 yesterday.

Uber Cup heroine Mia Audina proved herself the rightful future heir to Susi's crown when she outplayed All-England finalist Camila Martin of Denmark 11-8, 12-9 to accompany Susi into the women's singles semifinals.

It was sweet revenge for Mia, who crashed to the Dane in the All-England quarterfinals last March. "I managed to relax, despite the nerve-wrecking match," 15-year-old Mia said of her victory.

Mia, however, faces a daunting test today as she is tipped to meet world champion Ye Zhaoying of China, who fought back from a first-set defeat to brush aside Yuliani Sentosa of Indonesia 10- 12, 11-6, 11-1 yesterday. (arf/amd)

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