Candra\/Tony crash out in second round<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (JP): Indonesia's bid to win more gold medals in the
\nbadminton competition at the 13th Asian Games suffered a blow on
\nMonday when the men's doubles favorites of Candra Wijaya and Tony
\nGunawan bowed out of the event.<\/p>\n
The pair's shock 11-15, 13-15 defeat to the South Korean duo
\nof Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung left hopes of a medal pinned on
\nOlympic gold medalists Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, who had no
\ntrouble in dispatching Cambodian minnows Chorvan Cheah and
\nSokhang Krang 15-2, 15-2.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's makeshift mixed doubles team of Budi Santoso and
\nMinarti Timur and women's singles specialist Cindana Hartono also
\ncrashed out of their respective events.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is still in contention for the men's singles crown,
\nwith both Hendrawan and Taufik Hidayat advancing safely into the
\nquarterfinals. Mia Audina kept Indonesia's hopes of lifting the
\nwomen's singles gold medal alive with a 11-6, 11-9 win over Huang
\nChia-Chi of Chinese Taipei.<\/p>\n
The second seeded Hendrawan eliminated Ian-Gil Piencenaves of
\nthe Philippines 15-9, 15-7 in 26 minutes. The Indonesian world
\nnumber five, who guided his country to gold in the team event on
\nFriday, will now meet Malaysia's rising star Roslin Hashim, who
\nbeat Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 15-8, 11-15, 17-16 in a
\ngrueling encounter.<\/p>\n
As usual, Hendrawan was cautious about his chances in the
\nquarterfinals. "I have never played Roslin before. Hopefully I
\nwill be able to play as well as I did in the team final," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Taufik defied relentless boos from the crowd to dispatch local
\nfavorite Anuphap Theeraratsakul with a 15-4, 15-12 victory.<\/p>\n
"I found it difficult to finish the match because he had such
\nstrong support from the local fans. It affected my game a little
\nbit," the 17-year-old Taufik said.<\/p>\n
There was a surprise in the men's singles when Malaysian
\nnumber one Yong Hock Kin, the reigning Indonesia Open champion,
\ncrashed out 17-14, 15-5 to Tam Kai-Chuen of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong Open champions Candra and Tony discovered that their
\nrelatively new partnership still requires a few more stitches
\nwhen the aggressive Korean pair capitalized on loopholes in their
\nIndonesian rivals' defense.<\/p>\n
The Koreans raced to 9-0 lead in the opening set before Candra
\nand Tony staged a brilliant comeback to level at 9-9. However, a
\nflurry of smashes and nifty touch play earned the Koreans the
\nset.<\/p>\n
Smarting from the first-set loss, the Indonesians took the
\ninitiative in the second and build up an apparently commanding 9-
\n2 lead. However, their lead and their composure crumbled and they
\ncommitted innumerable unnecessary mistakes which let the Koreans
\nback into the set.<\/p>\n
Candra and Tony came close to forcing a decider when they took
\na 12-9 lead, but the feisty Koreans charged back with a barrage
\nof nosedive smashes which barely gave the Indonesians time to
\nregroup.<\/p>\n
"The match went against us," grumbled Tony.<\/p>\n
Cindana blamed her 11-5, 11-9 loss to host shuttler Sujitra
\nEakmongkolpaisarn on her failure to control the shuttlecock. "I
\ncould not play the way I am used to. Her returns continually sent
\nme into deep trouble," she said.<\/p>\n
It was Cindana's second straight loss to the Thai after their
\nfirst encounter at the Asian Championships played here in
\nSeptember.<\/p>",
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