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)