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Polsana strikes again
May 04, 2001 - Source : IBF
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There was another big surprise in group B of the Asia Cup held in Singapore yesterday when Thailand beat the last edition’s runners-up Malaysia after another of Boonsak Polsana’s brilliant matches.
The 19-year-old Thai beat Wong Choong Hann in three hard fought games and put his team on track to an unexpected semi-final spot.
Wong had been looking to reassert himself after a disappointing come back at the Japanlast month, and the 24-year-old Malaysian showed he was eager to do well. He firmly took the first game 15/5, with a wide variety of shots, including some impressive deceptive net shots.
But Polsana’s fighting spirit helped him get back into the game and he started to make his opponent doubt with a quite simple yet efficient game. "I didn’t play very well at first, but then I realised I could give him some trouble in the second and third, then I just played my game without any pressure," said Polsana, a law student in Bangkok.
It was a pressure that led Wong to commit unforced errors at key moments, and eventually to lose the last two games 15/10 – 15/10.
"This might be the key to this game," added coach L. Udom: "We came here with no pressure at all, with just the will to do our best, and prevent from finishing last in the group. As for Boonsak, he played his normal standard today once again. I am very pleased with his level of play. He would deserve to be in the top 20, but he hasn’t played enough tournament to get the points," explained Udom, who was Polsana’s coach back when he was 14 years old.
Polsana’s win is no surprise for whomever follows the young Thai’s performances: in 1999 he had beaten Fung Permadi, world number two at the time, and has given trouble to the very best, including Peter Gade and Pullela Gopichand. Yesterday’s win over world number 4 Chen Hong of China was another proof of Polsana’s talent.
After Wong’s defeat, the hopes of the Malaysian team and most of the public gathered in Singapore’s indoor stadium were kept alive in the form of Chan and Chew in the men’s doubles. Yet 34-year-old Pramote Teerawiwanata and Tesana Panvisvas gave the winning point to Thailand in an extraordinarily tense match. The Thai saved three first game points thanks to Panvisvas'' incredible defence wrist play at 16/16, and took the following 15/12 for a final victory in the tie.
"To be in the semi-final is quite unexpected for us," said Udom , who seemed quite surprised to be quickly surrounded by a bunch of journalists. "I hope this will help Thai badminton to progress as it is quite difficult for us. We don’t have enough money to send our players to international tournaments and the lack of sponsorship leads all the good young players to quit competing at high level when they could be turning professional. Most of our players are students and rather concentrate on their studies which is most likely to provide them with a better living standard," explained Udom.
The third point of the tie was taken by Malaysia with Yong Hock Kin’s victory over Thiraratsakul. Malaysia and China will have to fight later today for the remaining spot in the semi-final, as the Chinese easily overtook Japan 3/0.
In the other group, today’s tie between Korea and Indonesia will just be a matter of who ever finishes first in the group, as both teams already secured their spot in the semi-final yesterday.
In the tie between the title holders Indonesia and Hong Kong, Taufik Hidayat outplayed former compatriot Agus Haryanto in front of noisy and cheerful Indonesian fan. Many young Indonesians study in Singapore, and were here with big red and white flags. They cheered and sang along for their young idol through out the match. It was then Sigit and Candra’s turn to put on a show against another former Indonesian player – Njoto – teaming up with Liu, which led Aryono Wiranata to comment on this Indonesian emigration:
"I think that it is good for Indonesia and for the all world of badminton if some of our former players help the standard raise elsewhere," said Indonesian coach. His team finished the 3/0 tie with a difficult victory of Hendrawan over Tam.
While Hendrawan and his opponent were battling on court 1, another former Indonesian was giving Singapore his first point in its tie against Korea. Indra Wijaya came back from one game down to beat Shon Seung Mo. This could give regrets to Singapore first singles player Ronald Susilo, who once more had a chance to do something against the promising Lee Hyun Il. Susilo led 13/10 in the second game, before collapsing under Lee’s left-hand straight smashes. Korea finally won the tie 2/1.
After this second day of this third Asia Cup, everyone would agree that there isn’t such a gap between all teams, and even the so called weaker teams such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and most Thailand, showed some great fighting spirit.
Today’s ties should feature some interesting matches. First of all in group B where a clash between China and Malaysia will nominate the last semi-finalist, but also in group A, where the tie between Korea and Indonesia is important as the winner will meet the group B runner up.
Results:
Group A:
Indonesia bt Hong Kong : 3/0
Hidayat (INA) bt Hariyanto (HKG) : 15/8 – 15/7
Budiarto/Wijaya (INA) bt Liu/Njoto (HKG) : 15/6 – 15/5
Hendrawan (INA) bt Tam (HKG) : 11/15 – 15/8 – 15/7
Korea bt Singapore : 2/1
Lee (KOR) bt Susilo (SIN) : 15/7 – 15/13
Yoo/Lee (KOR) bt Lau/Santoso (SIN) : 15/8 – 15/9
Wijaya (SIN) bt Shon (KOR) : 15/13 – 10/15 – 15/12
Group B :
Thailand bt Malaysia : 2/1
Ponsana (THA) bt Wong (MAS) bt Wong (MAS) : 5/15 – 15/10 – 15/10
Teerawiwanata/Panvisvas (THA) bt Chang/Chew (MAS) : 17/16 – 15/12 Yong (MAS) bt Thiraratsakul (THA) : 15/11 – 15/9
China bt Japan : 3/0
Chen Hong (CHN) bt S.Ohtsuka (JPN) : 15/6 – 15/8
Zhang/Zhang (CHN) bt Katayama/Kubota (JPN) : 15/12 – 15/3
Chen Yu (CHN) bt Ohtsuka (JPN) : 15/8 – 15/12 |
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