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Indonesia pass first big test
May 13, 2002 - Source : IBF
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 This very special tie had brought a lot of attention ever since the draw of the Thomas Cup was published: would Malaysia be able to beat Indonesia, once again, after they had succeeded in doing so in the SEA Games last year in Kuala Lumpur?
With a very strong line up for both teams, Indonesia still looked favourites on paper, yet Taufik and Hendrawan had struggled for their first match against Thailand, which brought hope on the Malaysian side, who knew how tough their opponent’s doubles were.
Both camps were well supported by their own public: the Malaysian fans were holding big flags and banners written “Malaysia Boleh!” while a younger public fond of Indonesia was gathering very far up in the stands, but cheered loudly enough for Candra Wijaya to hear and smile at them while he was still warming up.
But it was Marleve Mainaky (pictured) who had the honour of starting the tie against Wong Choong Hann. The Malaysian didn’t spend much time warming up and got straight to where he wanted the game to be: lowering the shuttles to attack and kill the points. He managed to do so in the first two games, easily won 7/1 – 7/2. Things got a little more complicated when Mainaky got the third, and pulled back from 1/6 to 5/6 in the fourth game, saving four match points. On the fifth one, where both players enjoyed a net rally, Wong took it away, placing Malaysia in the lead. “I was glad to play against Marleve as I have a good record against him, and I really wanted to put the first point on our side. Then I just played my game, trying to keep the shuttle down, especially when I was playing with the wind behind me,” said Wong.
As expected, Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto put back the two teams on the same level, but what was not expected was the line up for the first Malaysian doubles, composed of the scratch pair of Chan Chong Ming and Lee Wan Wah, who usually are teamed up respectively with Chew Choon Eng and Choong Tan Fook. When asked about this odd decision, Indra Gunawan, the Malaysian coach, explained that it was a strategy he couldn’t quite unveil, yet he hinted that he wanted to give Lee Wan Wah the chance to go out, as he hadn’t played against Germany. On court though, Sigit and Candra just had to tighten the game in the second set, but they had quite a margin of error, and won 7/0 – 7/4 – 7/4 in 20 minutes.
A big question mark was under Taufik’s name for this tie, as he had struggled during the first match against a modest Thai player, complaining that he was missing high competition matches. And his opponent of the day, Ong Ewe Hock, was no opponent to give extra confidence to. But the Indonesian youngster worked his way through victory, raising his level of play as the match was going on against the Malaysian skipper. After he lost the first game 7/2, Hidayat clinched the next two 7/2 – 7/0, before trailing 2/6 in the fourth.
“I tried to play safe shots not to make any mistakes like I did in the beginning of the game, and I got back up little by little until I won the match. It is a very good match for my confidence and for the team, as I know we needed every point to beat Malaysia, in order to avoid China in the semi-final” said Hidayat, clearly showing his preference not to play the hosts. “It’s their home ground and it is very difficult, especially because they have good singles,” Maybe he remembers that in the recent team’s line up, he would meet Bao Chunlai, who had defeated him in Japan last month.
The fourth and winning point came from the second doubles from Indonesia, while the whole Indonesian camp was shouting on the side court, banging on the solid chairs of the Tian He Centre, building up the pressure. The girls had found back their voices after their elimination of the Uber Cup the previous night, and were also showing high team spirit, clapping their balloons (pictured). Halim Haryanto and Trikus Haryanto didn’t disappoint their home fans and won in three games, thanks to riffle smashes and very smart cross defence play.
Hendrawan was then on court for a little less than one hour to finally defeat Hafiz Hashim in five games, after once again trailing 1/3 in the decider. Yet Hendrawan has always shown good action in big occasion, and couldn’t let his team down, even if he still struggles to get used to the 5 X 7 scoring system. “Our singles players had quite good matches today, but they’ll have to play even better because this won’t be sufficient to win the title,” warned head coach Christian Hadinata. Indonesia could still celebrate their 4/1 victory over arch rivals – but friends – from neighbouring Malaysia.
Thailand beat Germany 4/1
In the other match of the Thomas Cup, Germany and Thailand were facing each other, in what was Thailand’s last chance to keep hoping for a semi-final qualification. And even if they won the overall tie 4/1, this match lost by Jakapran Thanathiratham against Oliver Pongratz could have an effect on the overall results, should Thailand beat Malaysia in Tuesday’s tie, as every point will then count.
And it was a satisfaction for Germany, who clinched their first point after the 0/5 conceded to Malaysia on day 1. Boonsak Polsana played his regular standard to beat Germany’s giant Bjoern Joppien, then Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas (pictured) struggled against Hopp and Tesche – 7/5 - 7/0 – 6/7 – 8/6. The next two points came on the Thai side before Oliver Pongratz could be satisfied with his win against a young but talented opponent to bring Germany’s first point of the competition.
report and pictures by Raphael Sachetat |
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Other news:
» Hafiz to take three-week break
» Memories of… the 2002 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals
» Gopi to lead India in Commonwealth Games
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