INDONESIAN MASTERS 2015 Finals – Tommy wins by a nose

Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto closed out 2015 on a high note, winning a nail-biter against Kidambi Srikanth to take his biggest title of the year, at the Indonesian Masters Grand Prix […]

Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto closed out 2015 on a high note, winning a nail-biter against Kidambi Srikanth to take his biggest title of the year, at the Indonesian Masters Gold.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

Tommy Sugiarto (pictured) has certainly had his ups and downs in 2015.  It had already been an improvement over 2014 in that he won two titles, an achievement that had eluded him in the previous calendar year.  He also scored two wins over the great Lin Dan.

However, he had his share of disappointments this year, too.  He was unable to perform as well at his home World Championships as he had in Copenhagen and he also narrowly missed the opportunity to play for the big money at the Superseries Finals.

His final consolation for the year, though, came when he faced Kidambi Srikanth, the man who edged him out for the last qualification spot for Dubai.  Tommy grabbed at least some bragging rights when he edged out the Indian for the title at the Indonesian Masters.

After dropping the first game, Tommy dominated the second.  In the decider, he stayed a step ahead of Srikanth until match points but then let his Indian opponent produce a 3-point run and then it was the home favourite who was left to save two match points before finally closing it out 24-22.

In fact, three Dubai-bound finalists finished as runners-up to players for whom this would be the last event of the season.  In the women’s doubles, top-seeded Nitya Krishinda Maheswari / Greysia Polii put up little resistance against Tang Yuanting / Yu Yang.  The Chinese pair thus took their third title of the year and that should propel them into the top 20 in the Rio qualification standings.

In the men’s doubles, Berry Anggriawan / Rian Agung Saputro (pictured above) did one better than last week in Macau.  They took down 2nd-seeded Chai Biao / Hong Wei in straight games, weathering a late surge by the Chinese pair to win 22-20 in the second game.

Indonesia finished with three titles on the day.  The one whose destination had been decided a day early was the mixed doubles.  The home team’s two Dubai-bound pairs faced off and it was the top seeds and former World Champions Tontowi Ahmad / Liliyana Natsir who came away with the decisive win.

In the women’s singles, He Bingjiao (pictured) took the second Grand Prix Gold title of the year and of her career.  The 18-year-old He beat her 17-year-old compatriot Chen Yufei to close out the year.  This should lift He into the world’s top 50 for the first time in her career.

Final results
XD: Tontowi Ahmad / Liliyana Natsir (INA) [1] beat Praveen Jordan / Debby Susanto (INA) [3]  21-18, 21-13
WD: Tang Yuanting / Yu Yang (CHN) beat Nitya Krishinda Maheswari / Greysia Polii (INA) [1]   21-17, 21-11
WS: He Bingjiao (CHN) beat Chen Yufei (CHN)  21-18, 21-9
MD: Berry Anggriawan / Rian Agung Saputro (INA) beat Chai Biao / Hong Wei (CHN) [2]  21-11, 22-20
MS: Tommy Sugiarto (INA) [2] beat K. Srikanth (IND) [1]  17-21, 21-13, 24-22

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Don Hearn

About Don Hearn

Don Hearn is an Editor and Correspondent who hails from a badminton-loving town in rural Canada. He joined the Badzine team in 2006 to provide coverage of the Korean badminton scene and is committed to helping Badzine to promote badminton to the place it deserves as a global sport. Contact him at: don @ badzine.net