Indonesia fail to stamp authority against England
News 1:16 PM
Sony: Was taken to the distance by England’s Andrew Smith before prevailing with a 23-25, 21-19, 21-5 win.
SHAKY performances from Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Taufik Hidayat do not augur well for Indonesia in their bid to win the Thomas Cup for the first time on home ground since 1994.
Indonesia defeated England 3-0 last night to advance to the semi-finals but both Sony and Taufik had to haul themselves out of deep trouble to win their matches.
Indonesia will play against South Korea tomorrow for a place in the final. South Korea beat Denmark 3-2 in the quarter-finals yesterday.
Sony was taken to the distance by Andrew Smith before prevailing with a 23-25, 21-19, 21-5 win in the opening match of the tie while Taufik had to stave off strong challenges from Rajiv Ouseph before winning 21-17, 21-16.
In between the singles matches, world champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan trounced Robert Adcock-Robin Midleton 21-12, 21-10.
Of his difficulty to tame Smith, Sony said: “My opponent was able to retrieve every shots that I threw at him today.
“But fortunately, I got my game going after the first-game defeat. I just pushed myself.”
The World Championships runner-up added that he was his own worst enemy.
“I do not fear any of my opponents but sometimes, I make life difficult for myself. We are closer to winning the Cup. I will perform better in the semi-finals,” he said.
Taufik, who is making his last appearance in the Thomas Cup Finals, continued to struggle but said that the semi-finals would be a whole new ball game.
“The most important thing today is that our team won and made it to the semi-finals. The team will get together tomorrow and I am sure we will inspire each other and will get ready for a fresh onslaught to qualify for the final,” he said.
Coach Hendrawan said that he was confident the players would perform well when it counted.
“Our singles were not stable but the most important thing is for the team to win the tie,” he said.
“Look at China's Uber Cup team today. They were also given a scare today (against Holland),” he said.
“I am very sure that my singles players will rise to the occasion in the semi-finals.”
Indonesia last won the Thomas Cup in Jakarta in 1994, beating Malaysia in the final.
They had lost the Cup to Malaysia in the previous edition in Kuala Lumpur.
Indonesia last hosted the Finals in 2004 but they were eliminated by Denmark in the semi-finals.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 1:16 PM.
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