AXIATA CUP Day 3 – The reign of the Garuda over the skies above

Indonesia’s first team took first place in Group J as Taufik Hidayat and company did not disappoint the crowd gathered in Jakarta’s Indoor Tennis Senayan for the final day of Axiata Cup group matches.

By Kira Rin, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos:

Over the past 2 days, both Malaysia and Indonesia had their 4 teams face off against other countries and steam through their opponents. However, today would be an exception as it would be a battle between the two rival countries and also both senior players and the upcoming generation on both ends, with the young Malaysia Leopards facing off the senior Indonesia Garuda in Jakarta and the reverse match of up-and-coming Indonesians of Rajawali versus the experienced Malaysian Tigers being held in Kuala Lumpur.

At the loud Jakarta Indoor Stadium, the great Taufik Hidayat (pictured left) stepped on court to claim the first win for team Garuda. The Leopards’ Misbun Ramdan Misbun (pictured below) was also of the same mind and in the first game, Taufik couldn’t find answers to the quick shots from the youngster.

However, later on in the second, the king found his pace and, like his team’s namesake, dominated the game just as the eagles dominate the skies. His majestic moves continued to the final game where he finally clawed his last mark into the Leopard’s back, winning it 21-10.

Later on, in the interview, Taufik revealed the reason for his dropping his first game, and also his plans for Australia; “This is my first time with Misbun Ramdan Misbun so, I need to know his game style. I often played against his brother, but not him. So, I deliberately used the first game to get know his playing style. As the Axiata Cup is held on a holiday, it feels like a refreshing thing to do and also a practice before the next tournament which will be held in Australia.”

Next up, a scratch pairing of Hendra Setiawan and Ahsan trounced Teo Ee Yi and Nelson Heg decisively, and Sony Dwi Kuncoro dealt the final claw against Iskandar Zulkarnain.

The Leopards will hopefully be able to use their defeats as experience and be able to run the distance when their time comes, as their 2^nd place finish in Group J qualifies them for the semi-finals, to be held next weekend.

In the next tie, the battle to avoid last place, Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh (photo) showed Singapore’s Robin Gonansa the experience and training that helped him hit the top 5 once before.  Nguyen took only 2 short games before walking off the court with the victory. However, his team-mates couldn’t close up the tie in Vietnam’s favour as the trio of Terry Yeo / Yi Liu and Huang Chao powered through to take victory for Singapore.

Sunday Results – Group J

Indonesia Garuda 3, Malaysia Leopards 0

Taufik Hidayat bt Misbun Ramdan Misbun 15-21, 21-5, 21-10
Hendra Setiawan / Mohammad Ahsan bt Teo Ee Yi / Nelson Heg Wei Keat 21-7, 21-15
Sony Dwi Kuncoro bt Iskandar Zulkarnain 21-19, 21-12

Singapore 2, Vietnam 1

Robin Gonansa lost to Nguyen Tien Minh 8-21, 9-21
Terry Yeo / Yi Liu bt Nguyen Hoang Hai / Duong Bao Duc 21-14, 21-7
Huang Chao bt Nguyen Hoang Nam 21-13, 21-11

All results HERE: http://www.axiatacup.com