The Uber Cup team was defeated by Japan 2-3, after Japan's Minatsu Mitani defeated Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri 19-21, 21-13 and 21-17 in their quarterfinal match.
Japan was leading from the start, with singles player Sayako Sato demolishing Maria Febe Kusumastuti 21-14, 21-10 and women’s double players Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa defeating Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari 21-18, 15-21, 21-19.
Indonesia managed to bounce back after Adriyanti Firdasari claimed the third match against Eriko Hirose 21-13, 20-22, 21-14.
In the next match, 19th ranked Anneke Feinya Agustin and Nitya Krishninda Maheswari unexpectedly defeated 6th ranked Mami Naito and Shizuka Matsuo in straight sets 21-11, 21-17, tying the score at 2-2.
However, despite claiming the first set 21-19, Indonesia’s Lindaweni failed to bring the Garuda squad to the semifinal after Mitani won the deciding third set 21-17.
Earlier, once the most renowned Thomas Cup team in the world, Indonesian male shuttlers succumbed to the less-celebrated Japanese team, 2-3, in the quarterfinal of the Thomas and Uber Cup badminton championship in China on Wednesday.
The Garuda squad initially gained a head start when their number one singles player Simon Santoso defeated Sho Sasaki, 22-20 and 21-14, giving the team a 1-0 lead.
However, Olympic champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan were outclassed by Noriyatsu Hirata and Hirokatsu Hashimoto in the first men’s doubles match, 16-21 and 18-21.
Veteran champion Taufik Hidayat lost his match against Kenichi Tago 12-21 and 17-21.
Indonesian men’s double players Mohammad Ahsan and Alvent Yulianto Chandra tied the score 2-2 after defeating Japanese Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa, 21-17 and 21-13.
Future star Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka, who played the last match, failed to meet expectations by bowing out to Japanese Takuma Ueda in straight sets 14-21 and 19-21.
Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) national training director Christian Hadinata was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that he was “heartbroken when hearing the boys failed to go to the next round”.
“The Japanese have always been the inferior team compared to Indonesian shuttlers. Honestly, I have yet to receive the news about what exactly happened that caused this loss,” he said.
Indonesian Thomas Cup teams still hold the most titles in the competition with a collection of 13 trophies since 1958 with their last victory back in 2002.
Meanwhile, Japanese male shuttlers have never won any Thomas Cup trophy in their 12 appearances.
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