Indonesia dominates opening round of Axiata Cup – Badminton News
The opening round of the Axiata Cup was completely dominated by Indonesia as both their teams of Indonesia Rajawali and Indonesia Garuda topped their groups K and J respectively on March 25, 2012.
The Indonesian back-up squad performed beyond expectations against the prime team Malaysia Tigers and emerged as top team with 2-1 victory while the Indonesia Garuda swept the board with 3-0 wins over Malaysia Leopards.
The opening round of first million-dollar team event the Axiata Cup was played in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
The Indonesia Rajawali started the victory saga and its relatively inexperienced shuttler Hayom Rumbaka overpowered the World Number 32 shuttler Muhammad Hafiz Hashim with 16-21, 21-18 and 21-10 final score on the board.
It was certainly double trouble for Malaysia when its prime duo Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong knelt down against their opponents Angga Pratama-Rian Agung Saputro with a decisive margin of 21-10, 18-21 and 13-21.
In the last singles tussle of the match, the World Number 28 Daren Liew saved the Malaysian honour to some extent by avoiding a clean sweep. He registered his class by beating Indonesian shuttler Shesar Hiren Rhustavito with 21-19 and 21-13 score on the
board.
This concluded the Group K round robin match in Kuala Lumpur and Indonesia finished with top position in the group.
Meanwhile, the Senayan Indoor Arena in Jakarta also saw the best of Indonesia Garuda as they buried relatively inexperienced squad Malaysia Leopards with significant 3-0 victory.
The former World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, despite of his sluggish start, overcame the young shuttler Misbun Ramdan Misbun with 15-21, 21-5 and 21-10 score in his favour.
The Men’s doubles team Hendra Setiawan-Mohd Ahsan kept the ball rolling and thrashed the World Junior champion duo Nelson Heg-Teo EeYi in straight sets with 21-7 and 21-15 score on the board.
The final Men’s singles tussle was the last nail in the coffin when Sony Dwi Kuncoro buried his opponent Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin with a significant margin of 21-19 and 21-12.
This concluded Indonesia Garuda’s 3-0 victory and took it to top position in Group J.
Indonesia Garuda will now lock horns with Malaysia Tigers while Indonesia Rajawali is scheduled to meet Malaysia Leopards in the semi-finals of Axiata Cup, set to be staged from March 30 on home and away basis.
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