Debutant Ester steals show in Indonesia’s win over Thailand

CHENGDU: Teenager Ester Nurumi was ecstatic after playing a starring role in ending Indonesia’s 14-year wait for a medal in the Uber Cup Finals.

The 19-year-old rose to the occasion magnificently to topple Thailand’s world No. 16 Supanida Katethong 19-21, 21-19, 21-19 in an exhausting quarter-final match lasting 83 minutes to give Indonesia a 3-0 victory at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center in Chengdu yesterday.

Ester, who is currently ranked No. 38 in the world, was struggling physically in the third game but kept fighting after being spurred on by her teammates and pulled off what was the biggest win of her career so far.

The victory made it a great day for Indonesia after Gregoria Mariska superbly upstaged Ratchanok Intanon 22-20, 21-18 in the first singles and Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti beat Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai 21-17, 21-14 in the first doubles.

The day, though, belonged to Ester, who was making her debut in the prestigious team meet.

“I’m really happy to win because, with this result, Indonesia have reached the semi-finals for the first time in 14 years,” said Ester.

“I was leading in the third game but I was so exhausted and I could not move at all.

“I just tried to reset my mind and I saw my teammates cheering for me and that gave me some energy and I told myself to keep pushing.

“Supanida is a very good attacking player and I had to stay patient in the match and I’m glad that I did it,” added Ester.

Indonesia, who last made it into the last four in the 2010 edition in Kuala Lumpur, are now assured of at least a bronze.

They will next take on defending champions South Korea for a place in the final.

The Koreans beat Taiwan by the same score to reach the last four.