Indonesia, China deal Japan double blow
HYDERABAD: It would have been a perfect double, but Indonesia and China dashed such hopes. Both the teams were pushed to the decider but managed to halt Japan in the finals. While Indonesia defeated Japan 3-2 to clinch the men’s title, China claimed the gold by the same scoreline after a come-from-behind win at the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Sunday.
Kento Momota, the world No 4, set the ball rolling, thrashing Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21-17, 21-7 in 38 minutes. Indonesian No 1 and world No 10, Tommy Sugiarto, couldn’t take to the court because of illness.
The Japanese 21-year-old is a delight to watch. Possessing sharp strokes and quick feet, everyone in the badminton circles have their eyes glued to the former world junior champion’s game. Lee Chong Wei, the Malaysian former world No 1, feels he’s the one to watch out for in the coming years. Winning the Super Series finals last year has boosted his resume.
Japanese world No 6 Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa suffered a close loss in the second rubber. Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi produced a stunner as they levelled scores with a 22-20, 14-21, 21-17 victory.
Anthony Ginting, who foiled Ajay Jayaram’s strategy in the semis, stunned Sho Sasaki to put Indonesia 2-1 ahead. Ranked 34 in the world, the Indonesian produced a clinical display against the Japanese world No 22, winning 21-7, 21-16. Anthony covered the court extensively and set up chances to smash winners which Sasaki had no answer to. Berry Angriawan and Ryan Agung Saputra, however, lost 16-21, 15-21 to Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.
In the nail-biting decider, where each point was cheered on by supporters, Christie Jonatan got the better of Kenta Nishimoto 14-21, 21-19, 21-13 for Indonesia to be crowed champion. LEAD WASTED
Earlier, the Chinese squad jumped from their seats to celebrate after Yui Hashimoto made an unforced error on match point. Her return sailed long, handing China a 3-2 win. They screamed in delight before posing with their national flag for the photographers.
Nozomi Okuhara, the Japanese world No 8, got the better of Shixian Wang 17-21, 21-16, 21-15 after a tough battle which lasted 76 minutes. Wang, whose deceptive strokes befuddles even the best in the world, made crucial errors which gave the reigning Super Series finals winner the first rubber.
The world No 3 pair of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi then beat Ying Luo and Qing Tian 21-12, 21-16 for a 2-0 lead. But Sayaka Sato, who could have sealed a 3-0 win, fell short. The world No 13 lost a close rubber to Yu Sun, ranked No 11. She lost 20-22, 19-21. Pumped up, China’s Yu Luo and Yuanting Tang made short work of Naoko Fukuman and Kurmi Yonao 21-11, 21-10 to level scores. In the decider, Hashimoto made too many errors to allow He Bingjiao to triumph 21-18, 21-12, handing China the women’s title.