Badminton powerhouse Indonesia smashed their way to a record 17th Thomas Cup final yesterday, providing Japan with an unforgettable masterclass in athleticism, agility and passion.
The 13-time champions strolled to victory with a 3-1 win in front of a large and vocal crowd at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, breaking stride only occasionally to change ends and wipe down their rackets.
The second seeds’ world No.5 Taufik Hidayat hit his best form so far, forcing All England runner-up Kenichi Tago all over the court with a nonchalant mix of passes, disguised drop-shots and smashes to win 21-9, 21-14.
Indonesia looked fresh after an easy path through the quarters and capitalized on a weary-looking Japan, who had scraped to a five-set win against Malaysia in an epic encounter earlier.
Indonesia’s Olympic champion doubles pairing of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan piled on the agony, dispatching Kenichi Hayakawa and Kenta Kazuno 21-9, 21-11 in just 22 minutes to put Indonesia 2-0 up.
Only Japan’s Sho Sasaki was able to offer resistance, beating Indonesia’s Simon Santoso, who was picked as the second singles player to replace the injured Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
Santoso fought back after going a set down, but in the end was unable to fend off the battling Sasaki, who stormed to 21-11 in the deciding set.
Order was restored when Indonesian pairing Nova Widianto and Alvent Yulianto Chandra saw off Noriyasu Hirata and Hiroyuki Endo 21-14, 22-20.
Indonesia, who last won the cup in China in 2002, now face favorites and defending champions China, who coasted to a 3-0 victory over hosts Malaysia late yesterday’s in the second semi-final of the Thomas Cup.
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