China beats Indonesia to meet Denmark in Uber Cup final<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Indonesia found the going too tough against
\nthe heavily favored Chinese team in the Uber Cup badminton event,
\nlosing 0-3 in the semifinal at Putra Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Defending champion China, aiming to claim the sport's most
\nprestigious women's team event for the seventh time, faces
\nDenmark on Saturday. The Danes trounced South Korea in the last
\nfour.<\/p>\n
Indonesia fielded Ellen Angelina in the first singles, based
\non her fine form in earlier round-robin matches.<\/p>\n
Lidya Djaelawidjaja, who was shaky in opening encounters, sat
\non the bench and watched Ellen tackle world number two Gong
\nZhichao.<\/p>\n
Gong's excellence in long rallies and deft dropshots proved
\ntoo much for the Indonesian as she bowed out 2-11, 1-11.<\/p>\n
Doubles Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban put up a brave fight
\nagainst Ge Fei and Gu Jun, who have been undefeated in major
\nevents in the past five years and are dubbed the Chinese "Great
\nWall" for their solid defense.<\/p>\n
The Indonesians lost 9-15, 7-15. Deyana, known for her leaping
\nsmashes, failed to find her form and committed a slew of unforced
\nerrors.<\/p>\n
In the second singles, tiny Yuli Marfuah was tamed by Dai Yun
\n6-11, 4-11.<\/p>\n
The remaining two of the best-of-five match tie were not
\nplayed under a new rule made by the International Badminton
\nFederation last week.<\/p>\n
The defeat cast a pall over the Indonesian camp, and only
\nabout 100 spectators turned up to watch the semifinals in the
\n15,000-capacity venue.<\/p>\n
No Indonesian official, including Badminton Association of
\nIndonesia (PBSI) chairman Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, attended the
\npostmatch news conference.<\/p>\n
Denmark had cause to celebrate on Wednesday when it reached
\nthe final for the first time in 40 years. It last played in the
\nfinal in 1960 in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Camilla Martin enjoyed a comfortable 11-5, 11-7 victory over
\nKim Ji-hyun in 21 minutes but Mette Sorensen was forced to fight
\nhard and took 30 minutes to tame Lee Kyung-won 11-8, 11-3.<\/p>\n
The decisive victory was presented by the team's top pair of
\nHelene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen, who needed 30 minutes to
\ndispense of Lee Hyo-jung and Chung Jae-hee 15-5, 15-6.<\/p>\n
Denmark's head coach Kenneth Larsen said: "Before we started
\nthe match, we felt that we had a chance to win. But we should win
\nthe early matches to do that.<\/p>\n
"I'm very proud of the way they played. They did
\nextraordinarily well. They have supported each other in the team
\nin a very conducive situation."<\/p>\n
South Korea's coach Kim Jong-soo was clearly dissatisfied with
\nhis off-form shuttlers.<\/p>\n
"We had no chances to win without Ra Kyung-min, who had to be
\nrested for one month because of a hamstring injury. If Ra had
\nplayed in the single and double numbers, we could have earned two
\npoints from her," Kim said.<\/p>\n
"Kim Ji-hyun was not in a good condition since her first match
\nagainst the Netherlands in the round-robin match."<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
China bt Indonesia 3-0: Gong Zhichao bt Ellen Angelina 11-2,
\n11-1; Ge Fei\/Gu Jun bt Elysa Nathanael\/Deyana Lomban 15-9, 15-7;
\nDai Yun bt Yuli Marfuah 11-6, 11-4; Gao Ling\/Qin Yiyuan vs Etty
\nTantri\/Cynthia Tuwankotta -- not played; Ye Zhaoying vs Niniek
\nMasrikah -- not played<\/p>\n
Denmark bt South Korea 3-0: Camilla Martin bt Kim Ji-hyun
\n11-5, 11-7; Mette Sorensen bt Lee Kyung-won 11-8, 11-3; Helen
\nKirkegaard\/Rikke Olsen bt Lee Hyo-jung\/Chung Jae-hee 15-5, 15-6;
\nMette Pedersen vs Kim Kyeung-ra -- not played; Camilla Martin\/Mette
\nSchjoldajer vs Lee Kyung-won\/Yim Kyung-jin -- not played<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/china-beats-indonesia-to-meet-denmark-in-uber-cup-final-1447893297",
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