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Fri, February 10, 2012
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Koreans Avoid Indonesian Sweep
Ami Afriatni | February 28, 2010

Despite a strong opening by Adriyanti Firdasari, Indonesia lost its 2-0 lead over South Korea. (AFP Photo) Despite a strong opening by Adriyanti Firdasari, Indonesia lost its 2-0 lead over South Korea. (AFP Photo)
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After enjoying victory over its toughest opponent on Friday, Indonesia’s Uber Cup team suffered a heart-breaking loss against top-seeded Korea in their rematch on Sunday.

Indonesia had enjoyed an unbeaten run through the Asian qualifying tournament in Nakhon Ratchasima, winning its first five matches to secure a place in the tournament proper. Its flawless run came to an end, though, as the Korean women won the final three matches after going down 2-0.

“Korea played much better than us in general, but I am still proud of our team’s performance. The players showed good fighting spirit and played their best before they lost,” Indonesian Badminton Association secretary general Jacob Rusdianto told the Jakarta Globe by text message.

Korea, Indonesia and Japan advanced to the Uber Cup finals in Kuala Lumpur on May 9-16. Japan beat India 3-2 in the third-place playoff, leaving India to hope its world ranking is better than the fourth-place team from European qualifying.

Just as she did in the Group X finale, Adriyanti Firdasari opened with a No. 1 singles victory over Bae Seung Hee (21-10, 21-13). Indonesian No. 1 doubles pair Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari doubled the advantage after they beat Lee Kyung Won and Ha Jung Eun 21-14, 21-12.

With victory in sight, though, Indonesia failed to finish the job. Maria Kristin Yulianti fell 17-21, 21-12, 21-13 to Bae Youn Joo at No. 2 singles, and Liliyana Natsir and Shendy Puspa Irawati lost 13-21, 21-13, 21-13 against Lee Hyo Jung and Jung Kyung Eun at No. 2 doubles.

That set up a deciding match at No. 3 singles. Aprilia Yuswa ndari got the better of Sung Ji Hyun on Friday, winning a meaningless match 21-18, 21-10, but the Korean eased to a 21-12, 21-14 victory when it mattered.

The victory helped Korea avoid a weekend sweep at the hands of Indonesia, which won the men’s qualifying 3-2 against the Koreans on Saturday. The teams traded victories, with Taufik Hidayat, Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso winning their singles matches to overcome two doubles losses.

India wrapped up third place with a 3-2 victory over Japan, which nearly erased a 2-0 deficit. Japan can still advance to Kuala Lumpur if its world ranking is better than Ukraine, the fourth-place team from Europe.

Ukraine fell to Germany in the third-place match during European qualifying in Warsaw, Poland. Denmark secured top spot in the tournament, defeating the host nation in the final. Badminton