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Indonesia storm back to defeat England in Cup

Donna Kellogg, left, and Gail Emms of England compete against Indonesia in the semi-finals of the Sudirman World Badminton Team Championships in Glasgow on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

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.

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.
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