Defending champions Indonesia triumph in badminton grudge match Thursday May 13, 05:41 AM JAKARTA (AFP) - Defending champions Indonesia revived their flagging Thomas Cup badminton hopes with a spirited 3-1 reverse of arch-rivals Malaysia in front of a packed Senayan Indoor Stadium. Top Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro overcame a nervous start to triumph in three games over world number three Wong Choon Hann, but the deafening cheers turned to boos when doubles pair Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto were dismissed 15-12, 15-6 by Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fuk. Young maestro Taufik Hidayat -- reported to the police this week after an apparent road-rage incident -- fed from an ecstatic reception to dominate M. Roslin Hashim 15-10, 15-2. The quarter-final was settled by edgy doubles duo Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, who needed three games to put away Koo Kien Keat and Chew Choon Eng. "We were in a hurry to end the game and defeat our opponents but as it turned out changing our rhythm was not very wise because we lost the second game," Eng Hian explained. Indonesia will now face Denmark, who beat Germany 3-1, in Friday's semi-final for a chance to retain the trophy they have held since 1994. "We played well today but we are still expecting more improvement," said team manager Christian Hadinata. "But we are still hoping that the players can give their best in the next game." However, Indonesia's chances of a fifth consecutive title look slim with China, who drubbed them 5-0 on Monday, in awesome touch during their 3-0 demolition of Japan. China will face South Korea on Friday after the Koreans' 3-1 victory over Thailand. Earlier Indonesia's women were bundled out of the concurrent Uber Cup after a 3-1 loss to second-seeded South Korea. China, also top seeds in the women's event, cruised into the semis with a crushing win over Malaysia, meaning both Malaysian teams were ousted on the same day. The Chinese dispensed with the services of world number one Gong Ruina for the lopsided quarter-final, but Zhang Ning and Zhou Mi -- ranked second and third -- and number two doubles pairing Gao Ling and Huang Sui had little trouble dispatching the 11th seeds in straight games. Head coach Li Yongbo refused to comment on Gong's non-appearance. "There's a lot of reasons but the decision is for the good of the team," he said. But he agreed that the team were hot favourites to re-claim their title. "For the Uber Cup I predict the same as everybody but for the men's (Thomas) cup I believe all the top teams have the same chance -- Malaysia, Denmark, South Korea and Indonesia." He also said Malaysia's women, hammered by their imposing opponents, had a long way to go before they could challenge the top teams. "Malaysia have made a lot of progress but to challenge the top teams they still have some way to go. Maybe 10 years, maybe 50 years, I don't know," he said. Meanwhile Denmark and Japan were both taken to the wire, by the Netherlands and Taiwan respectively, before triumphing 3-2 in the other Uber Cup quarter-finals. Japan's women will meet China and Denmark are up against South Korea in Thursday's semis.
