WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: DENMARK BEATS INDONESIA

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May 22, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Denmark and Indonesia went down to the wire in their Group 1B fixture at the badminton world team championships in Glasgow, Scotland this evening. In the end, Denmark won 3 matches to 2.

In Group 1A, China defeated Korea also 3 matches to 2. However, Korea's two matches came after China had gotten the needed 3 matches.

Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen got the Danes started with another victory over Heryanto Arbi.

Hoyer's game was on target early as he took a 9-3 lead with tight net shots, surprise crosscourt smashes and softblocks that took the sting out of the fearsome Arbi jumpsmash.

Two Arbi net errors put Hoyer further ahead 11-3.

Arbi came back on jumpsmashes and smash-and-kill combinations as well as Hoyer miscues. Arbi pushed his score to 7.

Hoyer moved his score forward 12-7 with an attacking clear past Arbi after he had defended an attacking flurry from the Indonesian. A net error by Arbi made the score 13-7.

Arbi got the service back. Serving backhand, he climbed back into the game.

Hoyer cleared long to give Arbi his ninth point. Then, a rally that ended with an Arbi jumpsmash made the score 13-10.

Hoyer then defended well to get the service back. Hoyer hit a forehand short serve that Arbi anticipated and tried to kill, but the kill attempt went into the net. Hoyer was now at game point 14-10.

But Arbi again came back, inducing Hoyer into several errors that gave Arbi a 14-all tie.

In the three-point tiebreak, Hoyer got ahead early 2-0. Arbi got a point back on a shot that ticked the tape and fell into Hoyer's end.

Hoyer got the service back. The two engaged in a rally and Arbi tried a crosscourt clear to move Hoyer around. His attempt went wide and Hoyer took the setting 3-1 and the game 17-15.

Hoyer's game went off-target in the second setto. His short serves started to find the net and he could not control Arbi's smashes with his soft blocks.

Arbi gained the lead 8-1 on smashes and Hoyer miscues. Hoyer fought back, inducing an Arbi net error with a tight crosscourt netshot. Another Arbi net error, a scoring driveshot past Arbi and then a slew of Arbi miscues brought Hoyer close at 7-8.

Arbi then pulled away again 12-7 on smash attacks and Hoyer mistakes at the net. After Hoyer had tallied another point when an Arbi half-smash went wide, Arbi hit a smash to the sideline to take him to 13.

Hoyer put four points together with a half-smash, then a full-blooded smash, a round-the-head smash, and lastly a rally that ended with an Arbi drive out-of-bounds.

Arbi moved his score to 14 when Hoyer tried a round-the-head smash only to drive the shuttle into the net.

The game-winner for Arbi came in a net exchange when Hoyer tried a brushkill but did not have enough of the shuttle to get it across.

The second game score: 15-12 for Arbi.

In the decider, Hoyer was back in focus. Multishot exchanges with Arbi resulted in Arbi errors or Hoyer smashes, giving the Dane the lead at 8-3.

Arbi was not in the match afterwards. Hoyer, on the other hand, was in control of his strokes, scoring on very tight net shots and crosscourt drives.

Hoyer won the third handily 15-4.

Susi Susanti defeated Camilla Martin in the women's singles 11-6 and 11-3 to put Indonesia into a tie with Denmark, 1 match apiece.

Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky followed with a shuttle-pounding win over Jon Holst-Christensen and Michael Sogaard 18-15 and 15-12.

Indonesia was now ahead 2-1.

But Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen were up to the challenge. They spotted Resiana Zelin and Eliza a five-point lead at 5-0 but came back with good defense and smashing power that surprised the Indonesian pair.

The Danes caught up at 9-all. Then the two pairs matched points until 14-all.

In the setting, Olsen and Kirkegaard defended then powered their way to the win at 3-0 (17-14 in the game).

The Danes kept going with their defense and power in the second, storming to a 5-0 lead. Zelin and Eliza came back and equalized at 10-all.

The Danes took the lead again and got to match point at 14-12 on a Kirkegaard killshot towards Eliza.

The Indonesians got the points back and equalized at 14-all. This time, it was the Indonesians who dominated the setting to win at 17-14.

In the decider, Olsen and Kirkegaard raced to a commanding lead 11-2 but the Indonesians made their way back on Danish miscues and their own attacking play.

Eliza and Zelin got close at 10-12. But, the Danish power and defense was too good this time around. A kill attempt by Eliza found the net to give the Danes match point 14-10.

Olsen ended the match 15-10 with a kill that was set up by Danish attacking play.

The fixture was now tied at 2 matches apiece with the mixed doubles as the pivotal match.

Denmark had named Jens Eriksen and Marlene Thomsen as their mixed pair and Indonesia had countered with a combination of Limpele Flandy, a powerful lefthander, and Minarti Timur, instead of their top duo of Trikus Heryanto and Minarti.

The Indonesian pair was solidly trounced by the Danes in the first game as Eriksen's power-strokes overwhelmed Timur's defence. The Danes took the first 15-6.

The Indonesians were more cohesive in the second game as Flandy got his booming smashes into play. Flandy and Timur kept pace with the Danes and gained a small lead at 12-10 on jumpsmashes by Flandy.

But Eriksen and Thomsen kept the pressure on and tied at 12-all.

A flurry of Eriksen smashes and killshots caused Flandy to block the shuttle out-of-bounds, giving the Danes match point at 14-12.

The Danes mounted an attack focused on Timur, driving her to the floor as she blocked the powershots aimed in her direction several times. But the power kept coming until finally the Danes landed the shuttle on the floor for the match and fixture winner, 15-12.

The Danes had beaten mighty Indonesia 3 matches to 2 and had won Group 1B.

Denmark now plays Korea, the Group 1A runnerup in tomorrow's semifinals, while Indonesia has to face China, the Group 1A winners.

In the China-Korea fixture, Ge Fei and Gu Jun staked the Chinese to a one match lead with an easy 15-4 and 15-9 women's doubles win over Kim Mee Hyang and Kim Shin Young.

Dong Jiong gave the Chinese team a 2-0 lead with his 15-9 and 15-6 men's singles victory over Jang Chun Woong.

Then Gong Zhichao scored the clinching third win, defeating Lee Joo Hyun 11-5 and 11-0 in the women's singles match.

Korea's Ha Tae Kwon and Kang Kyung Jin took a match for Korea, trouncing Tao Xiaoqiang and Ge Cheng 15-3 and 15-10.

Korea's Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min then ended the undefeated string of Liu Yong and Ge Fei in mixed doubles. Liu, hobbled by a hamstring injury, and Ge had no counter for Kim's powerful smashes as they went down to their first defeat as a pair.

Kim and Ra won 7-15, 15-2 and 15-11.

(migrossman)