Indonesia's shock defeat to South Korea in the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup was met yestrerday by disbelief.
The Indonesians, who have won the title a record 13 times, were widely expected to beat the Koreans who had never made the final before in its 60-year history.
Indonesia’s tame 3-0 loss in front of a home crowd deprived them, and their boisterous fans, of another crack at defending champions China, who showed fighting spirt to beat Malaysia 3-2.
“I apologize to Indonesia for the loss,” defending Olympic singles champion Taufik Hidayat told reporters after collapsing against Lee Hyun-Il, who clinched the match for South Korea.
“We tried hard but we failed. Nobody wants to fail. I don’t have any excuse for losing. A loss is a loss. I believe this was the best line-up of players for the tournament,” he said.
Hidayat’s indifferent form throws into doubt whether he has what it takes to successfully defend his Olympic title in Beijing.
Former Indonesian Thomas Cup shuttler Iie Sumirat said the team must knuckle down ahead of the Olympics.
“We have seen that the South Koreans are mentally and physically exceptional, despite the Indonesian spectators’ noisy support to the host team,” he told the domestic Antara news agency. “I believe that the Indonesian team needs more intensive preparations for the Olympics.”
Chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Federation Sutiyoso said he was shocked by the 3-0 fiasco, which was front page news in the badminton-crazy country.
“I really did not expect the result would be like this, I predicted the outcome would be 3-2 for Indonesia,” said Sutiyoso, who like many Indonesians has one name. “Nevertheless, we have to accept their victory because they played so superbly.”
A similar statement was made by Indonesian Sports Minister Adhyaksa Dault, who also watched the match.
“I really did not think we would lose 3-0, but as you have seen, we were no match for the opponents, and they therefore deserve to win,” he said.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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