China to meet S. Korea, Indonesia faces Denmark in semis<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
COPENHAGEN (JP): Defending champion China will challenge South
\nKorea, while home favorite Denmark will face Indonesia in the
\nreserve semifinals of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships
\nat Brondby Hall on Friday.<\/p>\n
China tops Group A after wins over Malaysia 4-1 and Indonesia
\n3-2, while Denmark beat Sweden 5-0 and South Korea 3-2.<\/p>\n
China led 2-0 at Wednesday's Group B round-robin, thanks to
\nwomen's doubles Ge Fei and Gu Jun and women's singles Dai Yun.
\nIndonesian juniors Cynthia Tuwankotta and Etty Tantri nearly took
\nthe game from Ge and Gu in a close 13-15 finish. But in the
\nsecond game, the Indonesian pair suffered a resounding 2-15 loss.<\/p>\n
\"In the first game, we were able to perform as expected. But
\nin the second game, our defense was fading and we were indecisive
\nin our attack. We were very nervous as it was our first team
\nevent match,\" said Cynthia, who hails from Ambon.<\/p>\n
In the women's singles Dai Yun overwhelmed Ellen Angelina 6-
\n11, 3-11.<\/p>\n
But the All England men's doubles champion, Candra Wijaya and
\nTony Gunawan, kept Indonesia's chances open by denying victory to
\nZhang Jun and Yu Jinhao. The scores were 15-4, 10-15 and 15-8.<\/p>\n
\"The Chinese duo played well and without any worries. They
\nhave a good offense and flat drives. Candra and Tony had to win
\nthe match... It's a good warmup for them,\" said deputy team
\nmanager Christian Hadinata.<\/p>\n
However, he said improvement was still necessary from his
\nplayers. \"Tony still needs to work on his serves, while Candra
\nwill have to improve his defense placing,\" said Christian, the
\nformer men's doubles coach.<\/p>\n
Candra said: \"In the second game, we were overconfident and
\nstarted to underestimate the Chinese pairs. Luckily we were able
\nto fight back.\"<\/p>\n
Men's singles Taufik Hidayat, the All England finalist,
\ncontributed another point when he defeated Dong Jiong 15-11, 15-
\n4.<\/p>\n
\"I think Dong didn't play as well as usual. His performance is
\ndeteriorating,\" said Taufik, who lost to Dong in the 1998 Asian
\nGames individual men's singles semifinals.<\/p>\n
Christian complimented the 18-year-old shuttler, saying that
\nTaufik performed extremely well, with few unforced errors.<\/p>\n
\"(Placed) in very difficult positions, Taufik was always able
\nto return the ball and leave Dong unable to counter,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Slight chance<\/p>\n
In the do-or-die match, the mixed duo of Bambang Suprianto and
\nZelin Resiana did not perform to the best of their abilities and
\nwere a walkover for world champion Ge Fei and Liu Yong 4-15, 4-
\n15.<\/p>\n
Team manager Agus Wirahadikusumah said he was not disappointed
\nwith the athletes' performance as the matches were played out as
\npredicted.<\/p>\n
\"We had a slight chance against China and we wanted to save
\nenergy to perform all out in the semifinals against Denmark. We
\ngave everybody chances to warm up and adapt to the court,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Indonesia fielded a different team from that of Tuesday's
\nmatches against Malaysia. Men's singles Hendrawan, women's
\nsingles Cindana, men's doubles Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky,
\nwomen's doubles Indarti Issoliana and Deyana Lomban and mixed
\ndoubles Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur played in Tuesday's
\nmatches.<\/p>\n
\"By fielding completely different players, I have many options
\nto select which players are best and well-prepared for the
\nsemifinals against Denmark,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
Chinese head coach Li Yongbo said his team would hold the
\nmatch, but expressed frustration with Dong's performance.<\/p>\n
\"Dong performance was disappointing. If Sun (Jun) had played
\nwe would have won the match easier.\"<\/p>\n
Supremacy<\/p>\n
In the Group A round-robin match, Denmark showed supremacy
\nbefore an estimated 2,000-strong home crowd by defeating Sweden
\n5-0.<\/p>\n
Mixed doubles Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen opened the
\nwinning streak for Denmark by beating Sweden's Peter Axelsson and
\nCatherine Bengtsson 15-6, 15-9.<\/p>\n
World number one Peter Gade Christensen crushed Tomas
\nJohansson 15-3, 15-5, while world number three Camilla Martin
\nbarely broke into a sweat by eliminating Margit Borg 11-2, 11-1.<\/p>\n
Men's doubles Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen had a tough match
\nagainst Par-Gunnar Jonsson and Peter Axelsson, but clinched
\nvictory 15-11, 15-8. Women's doubles Rikke Olsen and Marlene
\nThomsen also tasted victory by beating Marina Andrievskaya and
\nCatrine Bengtsson 15-5, 15-8.<\/p>\n
Denmark's team manager, Thomas Lund, said: \"The results were
\nas expected. Our players have given their best shot. It would
\nhave been very surprising if we had lost against Sweden.\"<\/p>\n
\"The first day's matches have injected self-confidence into
\nthe shuttlers, and we played very well today.\"<\/p>\n
Lund expressed hope his team would be able to beat Indonesia
\nand reach the final.<\/p>\n
\"We have a very good chance, especially in the men's and
\nwomen's singles and women's and mixed doubles. The men's doubles
\nwill most likely go to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia will have to deal not only with our shuttlers but
\nalso with the home crowd. That's our advantage.\"<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
Wednesday's matches:<\/p>\n
Group A:<\/p>\n
Denmark 5 Sweden 0: Michael Sogaard\/Rikke Olsen bt Peter
\nAxelsson\/Catrine Bengtsson 15-6, 15-9; Peter Gade Christensen bt
\nTomas Johansson 15-3, 15-5; Camilla Martin bt Margit Borg 11-2, 11-1;
\nJens Eriksen\/Jesper Larsen bt Par-Gunnar Jonsson\/Peter Axelsson 15-11,
\n15-8; Marlene Thomsen\/Rikke Olsen bt Marina Andrievskaya\/Catrine
\nBengtsson 15-6, 15-9<\/p>\n
Group B:<\/p>\n
China 3 Indonesia 2: Ge Fei\/Gu Jun bt Etty Tantri\/Cynthia
\nTuwankotta 15-13, 15-2; Dai Yun bt Ellen Angelina 11-6, 11-3;
\nZhang Jun\/Yu Jinhao lost to Tony Gunawan\/Candra Wijaya 4-15, 15-
\n10, 8-15; Dong Jiong lost to Taufik Hidayat 11-15, 4-15;
\nLiu Yong\/Ge Fei bt Bambang Suprianto\/Zelin Resiana 15-3, 15-4<\/p>\n
Tuesday's matches:<\/p>\n
Group A:<\/p>\n
South Korea 4 Sweden 1: Ra Kyung-min\/Chung Jae-hee bt Marina
\nAndrievskaya\/Catrine Bengtsson 15-9, 15-10; Kim Dong-moon\/Ha Tae-kwon
\nbt Par-Gunnar Jonsson \/Peter Axelsson 15-6, 15-6; Ahn Jae-chang lost to
\nThomas Johansson 15-10, 5-15, 10-15; Kim Ji-hyun bt Margit Borg 11-9,
\n11-5; Kim Dong-moon\/Ra Kyung-min bt Peter Axelsson\/Catrine Bengtsson
\n15-4, 15-8<\/p>\n
Group B:
\n Indonesia 4 Malaysia 1: Tri Kusherjanto\/Minarti Timur vs Chang Chong
\nMing\/Joanna Quay 15-5, 15-6; Cindana vs Ng Mee Fen 11-6, 11-1;
\nHendrawan vs Ong Ewe Hock 11-15, 15-8, 15-4; Deyana Lomban\/Indarti
\nIssoliana vs Lim Pek Siah\/Ang Li Peng 15-6, 15-9; Ricky Subagja\/Rexy
\nMainaky vs Choong Tan Fook\/Lee Wan Wah 14-17, 15-12, 15-17<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/china-to-meet-s-korea-indonesia-faces-denmark-in-semis-1447893297",
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