Indonesia crashes in Thomas Cup semis

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/16/2008 9:28 PM  |  Sports

Indonesia's dreams of snatching badminton men's team Thomas Cup before home fans crashed Friday in a disarray after being crushed 3-0 by South Korea.

South Korea dashed to a 2-0 early lead after singles shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro and doubles players Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan failed to contributed points to the Indonesian team.

First single Sony lost 12-21, 21-12, 18-21 to Park Sung-hwan.

Markis and Hendra were defeated by Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong- dae who won 21-19, 18-21, 21-10.

Indonesia's best hope to bounce back was in the hands of Taufik Hidayat.

Taufik, however, failed to provide the much-needed respite after being defeated 13-21, 14-21 by Lee Hyun-il.

Indonesia also failed to reach the final stage in 2004, also in Jakarta, and in 2006 in Sendai, Japan.

In Sunday's final, South Korea will face China which had to work hard before defeating Malaysia 3-2 in another semifinal.

This is will be South Korea's first to play in the final stage.

Indonesia last won the coveted Thomas Cup by defeating host China 3-2 in Guangzhou, China in 2002. China won the biennial even in 2004 and 2006.

If China defeats South Korea on Sunday, it will be its third victory in a row.

Indonesia won the record of winning the cup five times in a row from 1994 to 2002 and no other countries have achieved the feat.

On Saturday, the Indonesian women's team will go against all odds facing giant China at the women's team Uber Cup final.

This will be Indonesia's first final stage after 1998 when it lost to China in Hong Kong.

China will likely be the first country to win Uber Cup six times in a row as currently virtually there are no contenders to Chinese women's shuttlers. (nvn)

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