I

ndonesia may now go after the elusive Thomas Cup with more confidence after winning the inaugural Badminton Asia Team Championship by defeating world champion Japan in the finals in Hyderabad, India.

In Sunday'€™s five-tie matchup, Jonatan Christie emerged the decisive winner after both teams shared the score at 2-2 in the first two singles and two doubles, according to a release by the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI).

The tournament also served as the qualifying field for world team championship Thomas Cup and it'€™s women'€™s version Uber Cup to be held Kunshan, China, in May.

PBSI chairman Gita Wirjawan applauded Indonesia'€™s success, hoping it would provide a morale boost for their bid at the 29th edition of the world tournament in Kunshan.

'€œCongratulations to Indonesia'€™s Thomas Cup team, which has fought successfully to win the Thomas Cup qualifications,'€ Gita was quoted as saying.

'€œIt shows second-layer players can be relied on. This must be an impetus toward winning the Thomas Cup next May,'€ he added.

Indonesia has collected the most trophies with 13 wins against China'€™s nine, but the last victory came more than a decade ago when Indonesia beat Malaysia in the finals in Guangzhou in 2002.

Indonesia came close to taking the 14th in 2010 but was beaten by China in the finals.

Team manager Rexy Mainaky pointed out the weight in winning the finals toward the next challenge, given the fact that Japan played with its full strength while Indonesia fielded its second-layer team.

'€œToday, our second-layer players proved they could display all their best skills under the pressure they were facing during the tournament,'€ Rexy said.

China came out the women'€™s champion after edging out Japan in the finals.

With its women'€™s compatriots having crashed out in the quarterfinals, Indonesia'€™s Thomas Cup members took Sunday'€™s match, determined to look for redemption.

It did not fold in their favor early as Mohammad Ihsan Mustofa failed to overcome Kento Momota. He lost 21-17, 21-7.

Indonesia equaled the score through Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwandi, who were forced to play three games before eking out 22-20, 14-21, 21-17 winners over Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa.

Anthony Ginting put Indonesia in front by thumping Sho Sasaki 21-7, 21-16 but Japan gained a lifeline with Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda defeating Berry Angriawan/Ryan Agung Saputra 21-16, 21-15.

With the team locked at 2-2, Indonesia'€™s hopes rested on Jonatan, who had to come back from a game down to beat Kenta Nishimoto 14-21, 21-19, 21-13.

The young Indonesian star led 6-2 but Kenta pushed his way to catch up thanks to his attacking rallies which put the Indonesian in the defense. He kept on piling the pressure to lead by five points.

Jonatan looked so nervous he faulted his services twice while his Japanese opponent was building a confident game to end the first game 21-14.

Jonatan again rushed to a 6-2 lead in the second game with his sharp smashes leaving Kenta desperately struggling to cover his area.

Jonatan continued to dominate the game to lead by five points before the players walked to the dugouts for a break.

Jonatan'€™s aggressiveness and well-worked footwork gave him a further upper hand for a 18-12 lead but a letup toward the end allowed Kenta the chance to race up to reduce the deficit by just a point before Jonatan closed the game 21-19,

After a brief period of dominance up to the break in the third game, Jonatan left the Indonesian camp in suspense when Kenta managed to rattle up the scoring board.

However, it appeared to be his last attacking spell as Jonatan managed to regroup his composure to round out the winner with a 21-13 win.