Indonesia staged a storming comeback to win their semi-final against England 3-2 and put an end to England's dream of making history at the Sudirman Cup World Team Championships.
Indonesia lost the first two rubbers, but the result eventually hinged on a dramatic men's doubles match.
Candra Wijaya and Kido Markis were the Indonesian stars with a straight games win over Robert Blair and Anthony Clark that took the side through to a meeting with China, who earlier beat South Korea 3-0.
PHOTO: AFP
The final is a repeat of Beijing two years ago, when top seeds China, who have now made it to seven finals in a row, won 3-0 to claim the Cup for a record fifth time.
Only victory
Indonesia have also reached seven finals, but their only victory came when the Cup was first contested in Jakarta 1989.
England were making a first appearance in the last four and raised hopes of going even further when the side won the mixed and women's singles.
Indonesia's Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat then sparked the comeback with a 22-20, 21-15 win over plucky teenager Andrew Smith.
Greysia Polii and Vita Marisaa, ranked No. 16 in the world, then scored an upset 21-18, 21-16 victory over the No. 10 pair of Gail Emms, who was struggling with an injured thigh, and Donna Kellogg in the women's doubles.
The deciding men's doubles was close in the first game, but Wijaya and Markis always held the edge against world silver medalists Blair and Clark and won 21-17, 21-14.
The match began well for England with world mixed doubles champions Nathan Robertson and Emms seeing off Widianto Nova and Lilyana Natsir.
Tracey Hallam then gave the large number of English supporters even more reason to cheer when she made it 2-0 in the women's singles by beating Maria Kristin Yulianta 21-18, 19-21, 21-18.
Indonesia coach Lufti Hamid was delighted with his side's comeback to win the final three rubbers.
"It was a great effort," he said. "I'm very proud of my team."
Despite their win, it wasn't all smooth sailing for China, with coach Lin Yongbo threatening to drop Lin Dan from the final after another relatively poor performance from the world champion.
Shock defeat
Lin suffered a shock defeat by Malaysia'a Lee Chong Wei in the group stages and South Korea's Shon Hye Youn, who has tumbled to No.83 in the world after a run of injuries, raised hopes of pulling off another surprise when he took the second game on Saturday.
The decider was close in the early stages, but Lin held his composure to claim the win 21-11, 18-21, 21-14 and clinch China's 3-0 win and the passage into the final.
"I have to think about the team and if Lin is not showing his best side then I have to think about dropping him," Yongbo said.
"We are here to defend the Cup and also to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games," he said. "I have to do what I think is best."
In the opening mixed doubles rubber, China's experienced Gao Ling guided her new young partner, Zheng Bo, to a 21-17, 22-20 victory over Han Sang Hoon and Lee Hyo Jung.
Olympic champion Zhang Ning then won the women's singles with an easy 21-14, 21-17 victory over Hwang Hye Youn to leave the stage for Lin to complete the victory.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care