Barros alive in Indon champ

She is no Leila Barros, but Indon Deyana Lomban captivated the hearts of the local crowd like the comely Brazilian did in last year’s World Volleyball Grand Prix.

And fittingly, the pretty, athletic-built Indon carried her ladies doubles tandem of Vita Marissa past the tough Chinese duo of Zhao Ting-ting and Zhang Yawen, 15-12, 11-15, 15-12, and into the finals of their division in the JVC Asian Badminton Championships yesterday.

Roars of "Lom-ban, Lom-ban, Lom-ban" from the predominantly youth crowd ringed the Philsports Arena and they somehow pumped up the adrenalin of the Indons, who pulled off perhaps the most stirring come-from-behind triumph in the four-day old championships.

Fighting back from a 2-8 deficit in the deciding game and battling through nerve-wracking service overs, exchange of smashes and drop shots, the Indons forced a 12-all tie before Lomban came through with back-to-back winners and Marissa clinching the win with a sharp backhand return that slipped through the Chinese defense.

The crowd erupted in frenzied celebration with Lomban and Marissa acknowledging the cheers in a stirring triumph that might somehow fall short of the popular expectation since they will be clashing head-on with the most fancied team not only in the region, but in the world.

Gao Ling and Huang Sui of China continued to outclass the opposition with a world-class game as it thumped the Indon tandem of Eny Erlangga and Novita, 15-5, 15-3, to cruise to the finals.

The tall, talented duo treated the big weekend crowd with a fine display of badminton, switching in defense with clockwork precision and complementing well in offense to complete the rout in just 20 minutes over a pair of diminutive rivals.

True to their pre-tournament hype, the Indons and the Chinese dominated the $150,000 championships as they sent four entries each to the finals of the tournament sponsored by Japanese electronic giant JVC, organized by IMG and backed by Yonex, Manila Galleria Suites, 96.3 DW Rock, 103.5 K Lite and The Philippine STAR.

Xia Xuan Ze, at No. 3 now the highest-ranked player in the men’s singles following the ouster of top seed Indon Taufik Hidayat in the second round, trounced Singaporean Indra Wijawa, 15-7,15-8, to arrange a title showdown with the very player who booted out last year’s champion Hidayat.

Lin Dan, the 18-year-old Chinese find, sustained his great run from the elims to the finals as he fought back from a set down to turn back eighth-ranked Korean Shon Seung-mo, 3-15, 15-11, 15-7, and earn a crack at the richest purse staked in five divisions -- $11,000.

Slowed down by poor form in early going, top seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong recovered from an opening game loss as she dominated the next two games to fashion out a 5-11, 11-1, 11-4 victory in the ladies singles.

Wang faces fourth Chinese finalist in Zhang Ning, who defeated Wang’s compatriot Ling Wan Ting, 11-3, 11-2.

The mixed doubles tandem of Bambang Suprianto-Minarti Timur thumped compatriots Trikus Haryanto-Emma Ermawati, 15-4, 15-11, to arrange a title clash with top seeded pair of Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min of Korea, who foiled the upset bid of Indons Tony Gunawan and Vita Marissa, 12-15, 15-13, 15-9.

Channel 13 will air yesterday’s semifinal games starting at 10 a.m. today with the other matches set to be shown at 2 p.m. NBN Channel 4 will start its two-hour telecast of the semis matches at 11 a.m. Tickets are available at all National Bookstore branches, Robinson’s Ermita and Ortigas, Music Museum and at the Tower Records outlets in Makati and Alabang.