Susi, Ardy retain their crowns in powerful style
JAKARTA (JP): Susi Susanti and Ardy Wiranata smashed their way to the singles titles at the US$170,000 Sony Indonesia Open badminton championships yesterday.
While Ardy struggled all the way to retain his crown with a sandwiching 15-9, 14-17, 15-9 win over compatriot Joko Suprianto, Susi found it easier to dispose of arch rival Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea 11-6, 11-7 to claim her fourth title here.
Susi equaled Chinese Li Lingwei's impressive record of winning the championships four times. The Indonesian has collected three titles this year, but missed the prestigious All-England laurel.
Playing before cheering, flag-waving fans, second seed Susi played nearly flawless badminton, forcing a number of exhausting rallies to wear out Bang's patience. Susi was left trailing in both sets, but the South Korean number one seed could not find her best form, which previously earned her a rare win over Susi in the Sudirman Cup mixed team semifinals last May.
It was Susi's second successive victory over 23-year-old Bang within a week. The Indonesian, who was also seeded second, shot down top seed Bang in the Malaysia Open final last Sunday.
The two victories will assure Susi of her world number one ranking, which she conceded to Bang following a series of upset defeats in the World Championships last May.
"I have been well-prepared to beat Bang since my upset loss in May," Susi said after the match. Susi played her favorite game yesterday, steering the match from her back court while unleashing her characteristic lobs and drop shots which had Bang running.
"I regained my confidence after beating her in Malaysia," Susi said, adding that she also stepped onto the court with a little bit of fright. "I always crack under big pressure when playing before my own fans," Susi said.
Susi crashed to China's Ye Zhaoying here two years ago to spoil Indonesia's celebration of winning four championship titles.
Bang blamed much of her loss much on poor endurance. "I have been so tired after playing in four consecutive tournaments since May," Bang said.
Taking the opening set without much challenge, Ardy lost his grip when he was up 11-4 in his hard-fought second set battle against former world champion Joko. The game turned into a thriller when Ardy leveled the tie at 13-13 to force a stretched set.
Pace
Joko sped up his pace to make Ardy run for every return, but squandered two game points before Ardy netted his smash to end the set.
"Joko managed to surprise Ardy with a number of quick attacks while playing a long rally," national coach Triaji said.
The exhausting rallies proved too much for an aging Joko as he ran out of steam in the deciding set. Ardy defended strongly, but it was clear that Joko no longer had enough weapons to destroy a stubborn Ardy.
"I played in a more stable way in this final. Joko made a lot of mistakes in the first set and was extremely tired in the third," said third seed Ardy, who edged out top seed Hariyanto Arbi in Saturday's semifinals.
In an all-Indonesian mixed doubles final, Trikusharyanto and Minarti Timur beat Flandy Limpele and Risyeu Rosalina 15-10, 15- 5.
Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto earned the host team its fourth title after they beat compatriots Danny Kantono and Antonius 15- 12, 15-9 for their first title of the year. It was a sweet revenge for veteran Bambang and Gunawan who lost to their juniors in the Taipei Masters final early this year.
The world badminton grand prix series will move to Singapore next week. South Korean top seed Park Sung-woo could be a major absentee after he tore his Achilles tendon when he played Alan Budikusuma in the Indonesia Open semifinals on Friday. (amd)