RI books final berth in men's doubles in Korea<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has earned a place in the men's
\ndoubles semifinal and mixed doubles final in the 2000 Samsung
\nKorea Open at Hanra gymnasium in Cheju island, South Korea.<\/p>\n
The veteran pair of Ricky Ahmad Subagja and Rexy Mainaky
\nproved they can still be dangerous to their juniors, following a
\ndraining 12-15, 15-11, 15-6 victory over senior Danish pair of
\nJens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen in the quarterfinals on Friday.<\/p>\n
In the semifinal on Saturday, Ricky and Rexy, who were the
\n1996 Olympic Games' gold medalists, will meet junior countrymen
\nFlandi Limpele and Eng Hian. Flandi and Eng Hian easily defeated
\nthe Malaysian pair of Chan Chong Ming and Jeremy Gan 15-13, 15-4.<\/p>\n
Another Indonesian pair, Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan,
\nextinguished Malaysia's hope of the men's double title in the
\nUS$250,000 six-star event after they managed to overcome Rosman
\nA. Razak and Chew Choon Eng 15-6, 15-6.<\/p>\n
Candra and Tony will challenge host pair Lee Dong-soo and Yoo
\nYong-sung.<\/p>\n
The success story was extended in the mixed doubles event with
\nthe Indonesian long-time partnering of Tri Kusharyanto and
\nMinarti Timur. They cruised to the final after defeating Chris
\nBruil and Erica Van den Heuvel from the Netherlands 15-10, 15-11
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
On Saturday they will face the world runners-up from the host
\ncountry, Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min, who ousted Danish pair
\nMichael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen on Friday.<\/p>\n
Team manager Hery I. Pierngadi said Tri and Minarti would face
\na tough challenge from the South Koreans.<\/p>\n
\"Tri and Minarti have not won against the South Koreans and
\nKim and Ra will enjoy support from the locals. But I hope that
\nour players can win at least one set, because they have never won
\nin more than two sets against Kim and Ra,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hery, who is also the men's doubles coach, said that Candra
\nand Tony would find it easy to beat the South Korean pair, given
\ntheir long winning record against Lee and Yoo in their previous
\nmeets.<\/p>\n
However, he said, Candra and Tony should be aware of bias
\nofficiating by the Koreans.<\/p>\n
\"Candra and Tony have a long record of winning against Lee and
\nYoo. But we are now playing in South Korea, so they have to be
\ncareful of the bias judging from the host officials. The referees
\noften call our players' services as faults,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He recalled that Ricky and Rexy had a very tough game after
\nthey lost the first set. However, they benefited from their
\nexperiences and changed their strategy in the second set.<\/p>\n
\"The Danish pair continuously attacked Ricky during the first
\nset and gained points to claim the set. But Ricky strengthened
\nhis defense and the pairs intensified their attacks. The game
\nbecame very tight, especially when the Danish pair lessened their
\ndeficit to 10-11 in the second set,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the semifinal match, Eng Hian expressed hope
\nthat he and Flandi could overcome Ricky and Rexy to retain their
\ntitle.<\/p>\n
\"We really want to win. We are ready to face Ricky and Rexy.
\nWe won the title last year, beating Eriksen and Larsen in the
\nfinal,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The ladies side has to come home empty handed after the
\nremaining ladies doubles pair of Etty Tantri and Cynthia
\nTuwankotta bowed out 9-15, 15-14, 13-15 to Ann Jorgensen and
\nMajken Vange of Denmark in the women's doubles final on Friday.
\n(ivy)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-books-final-berth-in-mens-doubles-in-korea-1447893297",
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