RI men's doubles secure final place in Japan Open<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia secured a final ticket in the
\nUS$180,000 Yonex Japan Open men's doubles after world number one
\npairing Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan set up a showdown with
\nveteran compatriots Bambang Suprianto and Tri Kusheryanto in
\nSaturday's semifinals.<\/p>\n
Candra and Tony, top seeded here, were too powerful for
\nMalaysian veterans Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock, the 1996
\nOlympic silver medalists and 1997 World Championships runner ups,
\nto win 15-7, 15-11.<\/p>\n
Bambang and Tri, both mixed doubles specialists, upset fifth
\nseeded Yu Jinhao and Chen Qiqiu of China 15-12, 7-15, 15-7.<\/p>\n
In another semifinal, third seeded Ricky Subagja and Rexy
\nMainaky proved that aging has not blunted their skills. The 1996
\nOlympic gold medalists gave a free lesson to Chew Choon Eng and
\nRosman Razak of Malaysia 15-4, 15-7.<\/p>\n
Ricky and Rexy will challenge arch-rivals Lee Dong-soo and Yoo
\nYong-sung of South Korea, the second seeds, on Saturday. The
\nKoreans thwarted the national team's dream to create an all-
\nIndonesian semifinal by defeating sixth seeded Denny Kantono and
\nAntonius 15-12, 15-11.<\/p>\n
Indonesian men's singles Hendrawan, the fourth seed, was
\nbarely tested when opponent Ahn Jae-chang of South Korea retired
\nwhen losing 1-7 in the first game.<\/p>\n
He will face unseeded Roslin Hashim, whose giant-killing run
\nincludes wins over World Championship silver medalist Fung
\nPermadi of Chinese Taipei and world champion Sun Jun of China.<\/p>\n
Hashim took another scalp by beating the Dane 16-17, 15-7, 17-
\n14. It was a repeat performance for Hashim, ranked sixth in his
\ncountry and 33rd in the world, who shocked the same opponent in
\nthe Malaysian Open round of 16 in July last year.<\/p>\n
\"I feel I am on a winning streak,\" said Hashim, whose only
\ntournament victory came in the Dutch Open in 1998, as quoted by
\nAFP.<\/p>\n
Hendrawan told The Jakarta Post: \"Roslin has been showing a
\ngreat performance in this tournament. There's nothing I can do
\ntomorrow but fight him as hard as I can.\"<\/p>\n
\"Technically Roslin is not a really special shuttler but he's
\nvery patient and tough. That's his winning point, he can make his
\nopponents make unforced errors. I have to be more patient than
\nusual tomorrow.\"<\/p>\n
Third seeded Marlev Mainaky was upset by sixth seeded Ji
\nXinpeng of China 15-17, 15-8, 10-15. Ji will face compatriot Xia
\nXuanze, the All England and Swiss Open winner, in the last four
\nafter easily defeating another Chinese Luo Yigang 15-10, 15-2.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has another chance to win a title here as two mixed
\ndoubles managed to reach the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Fourth seeded Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana defeated
\neighth seeded Chen Qiqiu and Chen Lin of China 15-2, 10-15, 15-
\n10. The Indonesians will find it tougher going on Saturday as
\nthey will challenge top seeded Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China. The
\nChinese beat the 1999 All England winner Simon Archer and Joanne
\nGoode of England 15-13, 15-5.<\/p>\n
Compatriots Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur crawled from
\nbehind to finally tame Lee Dong-soo and Lee Hyo-jung of South
\nKorea 15-17, 15-5, 15-4.<\/p>\n
The second seeded Indonesians will face third seeded Zhang Jun
\nand Gao Ling of China. The Chinese overcame the Danish duo of Jon
\nHolst-Christensen and Ann Jorgensen, the seventh seeds, 15-3, 15-
\n9.<\/p>\n
The sport's powerhouse China dominated the women's doubles by
\ncreating an all-Chinese last four, while Camilla Martin of
\nDenmark was the lone non-Chinese to book a berth in the
\nsemifinal. (yan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-mens-doubles-secure-final-place-in-japan-open-1447893297",
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