Cahya Dewi Leads Indonesian Rout of France

A young Indonesian women’s team without many of their biggest names got off to a strong start at the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2022 beating France 5-0.

The rout was led by 19-year-old Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi, whose sparkling performance in the first singles against Qi Xuefei wrested the early momentum for Indonesia. World No.203 Cahya Dewi, not frazzled at all by playing first singles in the biggest event of her nascent career, unveiled a range of attacking shots even under pressure to edge the Frenchwoman 22-20 19-21 21-18 in the closest match of the opening session.

“I just wanted to do my best and not pressure myself,” Cahya Dewi said. “My team told me to not go in with expectations because all of us are juniors. I hope I can create some surprises here and beat some top players.”

Bilqis Prasista made it 5-0 for Indonesia.

Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi and Aisyah Sativa Fatetani ensured the win for Indonesia beating Vimala Heriau/Margot Lambert and Leonice Huet respectively, before Nita Violina Marwah/Lanny Tria Mayasari and Bilqis Prasista wrapped it up 5-0.

All four ties of the first session on the opening day were one-sided affairs. In Thomas Cup Group C, India blanked Germany 5-0, while in the Uber Cup, Chinese Taipei outgunned Spain 4-1 and Korea brushed aside USA 5-0.

Highlights:

♦ Germany were combative despite losing the tie 5-0 to India. Jones Ralfy Jansen/Marvin Seidel took Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty to three games, and Kai Schaefer stayed close with Kidambi Srikanth until the midgame interval in the third, after which the Indian shot ahead with nine straight points.

♦ Lauren Lam was the lone bright spark for USA as she was on the verge of taking the second game against Kim Ga Eun, before the Korean steadied the ship. The rest of the Korean team proved too strong for USA, and teenager Lee Seo Jin duly completed the 5-0 whitewash beating Natalie Chi 21-19 21-9.

♦ Tai Tzu Ying, somewhat surprised at finding Clara Azurmendi opposite her in the opening singles instead of Carolina Marin, led Chinese Taipei to a 4-1 result over Spain. The lone point for Spain came through Azurmendi/Beatriz Corrales, who beat Hsu Ya Ching/Lee Chia Hsin 18-21 21-11 21-14.