INDONESIAN MEN SQUEEZE PAST CHINESE DRAGONS
Kusuma Heroics Save Indonesia

May 17, 1996 (D.Shuttlenws) - The Indonesian men's badminton team barely
managed a victory over the young but determined Chinese side in the
opening tie of the Thomas Cup finals, the world men's team championships
of badminton now underway in Hong Kong.

The tie went to a five-point setting in the fifth match before Allan
Budi Kusuma scored the final three points that gave Indonesia a 3-2
victory over the Chinese "dragons".

China's young singles players shocked the Indonesians with their
aggressive and fast-paced play.

Dong Jiong of China, the newly-crowned world number one in men's singles,
proved that his new top ranking was no statistical fluke by defeating the
man he displaced, Joko Suprianto 10-15 15-7 15-8.

Dong's win over Suprianto gave China a 1-0 lead in the tie.

After Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky equalized things for Indonesia with
a 15-6 15-5 victory over Jiang Xin and Huang Zhanzhong of China, Sun Jun
who was China's hero at the 1995 world mixed team championships with a
title-clinching victory over Indonesian Heryanto Arbi, again defeated
Arbi 8-15 15-7 15-5.

Antonius Irianto and Denny Kantono then beat Liu Jianjun and Liu Yong
15-7 15-11 to again equalize for Indonesia.

The outcome of the tie was then in the hands of Allan Budi Kusuma and
Lin Liwen.

The deciding match was an 80-minute marathon of clears, smashes and drops
that featured Kusuma's smooth attacking style against the softer, more
defensive play of Lin Liwen.

Lin and Kusuma battled it out in the first game before the young Chinese
player took it 17-14.

Kusuma won the second handily 15-3 as he seemed to have solved Lin's
style and Lin seemed tired from the first game.

The third game was another battle that saw Lin and Kusuma knotted at 13-all
to force a five-point setting, then at 14-all and then at 15-all before
the veteran Kusuma outsteadied the Chinese youngster to win at 18-15.

Indonesia's win puts them in the lead in the round-robin phase of the
championships and could have put them into a semifinal matchup against
the runner-up of the other round-robin pool.

In the other tie in this afternoon's session, Sweden had an easy
4-1 victory over an English men's squad that is missing top doubles
players Simon Archer and Nick Ponting.

Jens Olsson gave Sweden a 1-0 lead with a 15-10 15-9 defeat of Darren
Hall.

Par-Gunnar Jonsson and Peter Axelsson made it 2-0 for Sweden when they
defeated the scratch pairing of Julian and Nathan Robertson 13-15 15-8
15-6.

Rickard Magnusson then beat Peter Knowles 15-5 15-4 to clinch the tie
for Sweden.

Chris Hunt and James Anderson, another scratch pairing, put England on
the scoreboard with an 8-15 15-12 15-5 win over Johan Tholinsson and
Henrik Andersson.

Jesper Olsson defeated Peter Bush 17-15 10-15 15-10 in the final match.


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