Susi silences her critics but Dong silences crowd
Susi silences her critics but Dong silences crowd
JAKARTA (JP): Susi Susanti silenced her critics by notching up
the World Cup badminton title here yesterday with a 11-7 11-4
victory over China's Wang Chan in the women's singles final.
But Dong Jiong of China silenced the hostile 6,000-strong
Indonesian crowd at the Senayan Indoor stadium when he beat the
local giant-killer Jeffer Rosobin 15-5 15-8 to claim the men's
singles title.
Susi's victory, coming immediately after her triumph at the
Grand Prix finals in Denpasar last week, sent a strong signal to
her opponents that at 25, she is far from past her prime and is
likely to continue winning titles next year.
The year has otherwise been barren for the Indonesian
badminton queen. She stunned the nation when she returned from
the Atlanta Olympics with only a bronze medal. The string of
disappointments this year has prompted many to question her
ability to tackle younger players.
The trial run of a 90-second break halfway through each set,
introduced for the first time in this tournament, seemed to work
to her benefit.
She was trailing 1-6 in the first set, when the players were
given the break.
In the interval her coach instructed her to go for the quick
finish, and avoid long rallies. "My lobs were disappointing, and
I was playing against the wind," Susi said.
"I was tense in the beginning because I wanted to win so
much," she said in a post-match press conference. "The coach told
me during the break to go for the killing smashes."
The change of pace was noticed by Wang.
"After the break, she played much faster. I didn't anticipate
this," she said.
At the start of the second set, Wang again seized the
initiative, taking a 4-2 lead.
But she stalled at four, and Susi, slowly but surely moved on
to clinch the set 11-4 and the World Cup.
The victory gave Susi four wins in as many matches against the
Chinese. She earned US$9,500 for the title.
The same crowd who had roared Susi however had only a few
opportunities to cheer later when they saw their favorite,
Jeffer, go down fighting to Dong for the cup and the $12,350
check.
The men's singles final proved just as exciting to watch as
the two men decided to go for long rallies.
Dong, Olympic silver medalist in Atlanta, showed that in such
a battle, experience counted, as he patiently collected point by
point in both sets.
Jeffer tried to make a comeback in the second set, pulling
back from 0-8 to 5-8, but he could not sustain the effort.
"This has been my best achievement this year," admitted the
23-year old Dong, whose 1996 titles include the Taipei and
Thailand opens.
"It wasn't easy to beat Jeffer. I was really taken by surprise
because he played such long rallies," he said after the match.
He admitted that he was intimidated by the Senayan crowd while
the hot and humid Jakarta weather did not help either.
Jeffer, winner of this year's Asia tournament, did not hide
his disappointment for failing to win although he consoled
himself by saying that this was more than he had hoped for when
he was asked to take part in the tournament as a stand in for
Haryanto Arbi.
"Still I'd rather have won the title," he said.
"I couldn't match Dong's speed. My stamina had been drained
because I had to play three sets in almost every match on the way
to the final," the 20-year old said.
Jeffer earned the title of the tournament's giant killer when
he beat Olympic gold medalist Poul Erik Hoyer-Larson of Denmark
in the round-robbin section of the tournament.
Results
Women's doubles: Ge Fei/Gu Jun (Chn) bt Qin Yiyuan/Tang
Yongshu (Chn) 15-6 15-12.
Women's singles: Susi Susanti (Ina) bt Wang Chen (Chn)
11-7-11-4.
Men's singles: Dong Jiong (Chn) bt Jeffer Rosobin (Ina) 15-5
15-8
Men's doubles: Denny Kantono/Antonius (Ina) bt Rexy Mainaky/
Sigit Budiarto (Ina) 15-8 15-2
Mixed doubles: Sandiarto/Minarti Timur (Ina) bt Flandy
Limpele/Risyeu Rosalina (Ina) 17-14, 15-7. (yan/emb)