Thomas Cup: Scratch pair deliver winning point for Indons

Posted by Lucas Liau News 4:46 PM

THE scratch pairing of Nova Widianto-Alvent Yulianto became the unlikely heroes for Indonesia when they delivered the winning point in the 3-1 win over surprise package Japan in the Thomas Cup semi-final tie yesterday.
Indonesia, looking fresh, capitalised on a weary Japan to surge into the final for the first time since 2002 in Guangzhou, which was also their last Thomas Cup title success.
Then, Indonesia defeated Malaysia 3-2 in the final with Hendrawan delivering the winning point.
And it was Taufik Hidayat, the only survivor of the winning team that year, who gave Indonesia a bright start by outclassing All-England runner-up Kenichi Tago in just 37 minutes.

The younger Kenichi had played two tough games when Japan overcame Malaysia (3-2) and Germany (3-1) en route to reaching the Thomas Cup semi-finals for the first time.
A third proved too much, especially against Taufik, who played his best match of the tournament so far with a mix of clever drop shots and smashes.
Beijing Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Sitiawan struck a deadly blow to Japan's hopes when they brushed aside Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno 21-9, 21-11 in just 23 minutes.
A fighting Sho Sasaki, only ranked 40th, kept the tie alive for Japan by outplaying Laos SEA Games gold medallist Simon Santoso 21-19, 13-21, 21-12.
And it was up to Nova-Alvent to emerge heroes. The duo, combining for the first time, stood their ground to edge Noriyasu Hirata-Hiroyuki Endo 21-14, 22-20 to send Indonesia into the final.
The Japanese pair battled hard to save five match points in the second game but it was all in vain as their returns hit the net on both occasions to leave Nova-Alvent in ecstasy.
“We have made the final and that's the important thing. We dropped our guard when we reached 20-15. But we were optimistic of prevailing although we have never played together in a competition before this,” said Nova, a two-time mixed doubles world champion with Lilyana Natsir.
“But in training, we combined well. Now, we just have to hope for the best on Sunday. We will be ready to play if the coach fields us.”
Taufik earlier said he was getting better and better as the tournament progressed.
“I made some mistakes but I didn't allow my opponent to take advantage of them. It was not an easy game for me but I'm going to improve my game for the final,” said the former Olympic champion.
THOMAS CUP
China bt Malaysia 3-0 (Lin Dan bt Lee Chong Wei 21-17, 21-8; Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng bt Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong 21-15, 21-10; Chen Jin bt Wong Choong Hann 21-16, 21-7).
Indonesia bt Japan 3-1 (Taufik Hidayat bt Kenichi Tago 21-9, 21-14; Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan bt Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno 21-9, 21-11; Simon Santoso lost to Sho Sasaki 19-21, 21-13, 11-21; Nova Widianto-Alvent Yulianto bt Noriyasu Hirata-Hiroyuki Endo 21-14, 22-20).