RI meets S. Korea, Malaysia vs Taipei at Asia Cup semis<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is to meet South Korea and Malaysia is
\nto face Chinese Taipei at today's semifinals of the US$150,000 A
\nKing Asia Cup championships at the Senayan Indoor Tennis Stadium.<\/p>\n
Indonesia beat Chinese Taipei 2-1 to win group A, while
\nMalaysia won 2-1 against South Korea to win group B.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's first singles Indra Wijaya unexpectedly had to
\nwork hard to overcome Chinese Taipei's Chang Jeng Shyuang in the
\nthird day of the round-robin match championships before he
\nfinally won 15-10, 11-15, 15-0.<\/p>\n
Indra, world-ranked fourth, was left behind 2-9 before he was
\nfinally able to score 6-10. With about 400 spectators throwing
\ntheir weight behind him, Indra concluded the first set in 15-10.<\/p>\n
In the second set, Chang surprisingly led 7-1. Both shuttlers
\nhad to over the serve 10 times before the score turned 8-2.<\/p>\n
Indra was able to earn 6-9 before Chang earned another two
\npoints. But the 23-year-old shuttler was able to equal the score
\n11-11.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Indra spoiled everything when he made many
\nunforced errors in the deciding points and lost 11-15.<\/p>\n
In the deciding set, Indra found no trouble in ending the
\nmatch 15-0 and gave Indonesia its first point 1-0.<\/p>\n
\"In the second set, I was too afraid to hit the bird hard
\nbecause of the wind. In the first and the second set, my rhythm
\nwas a little bit slow and I tried to make it faster in the third
\nset,\" said Indra, who had prepared to meet Taipei's No. 1 Fung
\nPermadi.<\/p>\n
\"Chang played well. His defense and his tactics are good,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Indra declined to say that he underestimated Chang, since he
\nhad prepared to meet Fung.<\/p>\n
\"No, I don't underestimate him at all. I'm ready to play
\nreally hard,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's pair of Chandra Wijaya\/Tony Gunawan eliminated
\nHuang Shih Chung\/Chien Yu Hsun 15-6, 15-7.<\/p>\n
Second singles Jeffer Rosobin lost to Chien Yu Hsiu 15-10, 9-
\n15 and 7-15.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, which played without world-ranked fifth Ong Ewe
\nHock, surprisingly beat South Korea 2-1.<\/p>\n
First singles Pang Chen was able to overcome Park Soon-Woo 15-
\n12, 15-3.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's team manager Siva Raddy said he was not surprised
\nto see Pang win against Park. He said Ong did not play because he
\nwas suffering from a slight headache.<\/p>\n
\"To win against Korea meets our expectations. Ong's absence is
\nnot our strategy. He's not feeling well and that's the reason for
\nnot fielding him,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Siva said he still had no idea if Ong could play today or not.<\/p>\n
\"If Ong is healthy, he'll be our first singles. But I still
\ncan't say about the second singles,\" he said.<\/p>\n
South Korea's team manager Kim Young-man said Park was not in
\ntop condition, but he hoped his shuttler would be better today.<\/p>\n
\"If we meet Indonesia, I think the score will be 2-1 or 3-0
\nfor Indonesia. Our first singles may be equal in quality, but
\nIndonesia's second singles and doubles are better,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Coach Indra Gunawan said he would consider either Indra or
\nBudi as the first singles.<\/p>\n
\"We may rely on our doubles and second singles,\" said Gunawan,
\nwho expected to meet Korea in today's semifinals.<\/p>\n
Private-owned SCTV station will air the semifinals matches
\nlive from 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. (yan)<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
Group A:<\/p>\n
Indonesia vs Chinese Taipei 2-1: Indra Wijaya vs Chang Jeng Shyuang
\n15-10, 11-15, 15-0; Chandra Wijaya\/Tony Gunawan vs Huang Shih Chung\/
\nChien Yu Hsun 15-6, 15-7; Jeffer Rosobin vs Chien Yu Hsiu 15-10,
\n9-15, 7-15<\/p>\n
India vs Thailand 2-1: Gopi Chand vs Natapol Sarawan 15-11, 15-1;
\nJaseel P Ismail\/Vijaydeep Singh vs Pramote Teerawiwatana\/Kitipon
\nKitikul 4-15, 8-15; Sidarth Jain vs Anupharb Teeraratsakul 15-1, 15-4<\/p>\n
Group B:<\/p>\n
Malaysia vs South Korea 2-1: Pang Chen vs Park Sung-woo 15-12, 15-3;
\nTan Kim Her\/Lee Wan Wah vs Lee Dong-soo\/Yoo Young-sun 12-15, 11-15;
\nWong Choong Hann vs Han Dong Shing 15-7, 15-10<\/p>\n
Japan vs Hong Kong 2-1: Takahiro Suka vs Tam Kai Chuen 4-15, 9-15;
\nShinji Ohta\/Takuya Takehana vs Ma Che Kong\/Show Kim Man 15-7, 15-12;
\nYuzo Kubota vs Yau Kwun Tuen 10-15, 18-17, 15-3<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-meets-s-korea-malaysia-vs-taipei-at-asia-cup-semis-1447893297",
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