Susi and Alan on course for another Olympic engagement<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma strolled to
\nconvincing wins in their final group matches at the World Cup
\nbadminton championships here yesterday, paving their way to
\nanother Olympic engagement.<\/p>\n
Susi and her fiance Alan, who gave Indonesia two gold medals
\nin Barcelona in 1992, topped their respective groups for a place
\nin today's semifinals, which will be packed with host players.<\/p>\n
Top seed Susi never looked threatened in her thumping 11-2,
\n11-4 victory over Kim Ji-hyun of South Korea, with the
\nIndonesian's brilliant net coverage thrilling the 1,000-strong
\nhome crowd.<\/p>\n
Alan also did everything right against his toughest contender
\nin Group D, Dong Jiong of China. The 26-year-old Indonesian fully
\nbanked on his jumping smashes to knock Dong out 15-12, 15-4.<\/p>\n
Top seed Ardy Wiranata and world number five Joko Suprianto
\nconfirmed that Indonesia will dominate today's semifinals with
\nhard-earned victories. The host players left the other semifinal
\nberth to Chinese young gun Chen Gang.<\/p>\n
Susi took the total control of her match, pushing Kim on her
\nback court with her masterful overhead lobs in a number of
\nrallies. It took defending champion Susi no less than 30 minutes
\nto complete the one-sided match.<\/p>\n
\"It couldn't have gone better. I have played her many times
\nand I knew well what I had to do,\" Susi said.<\/p>\n
Susi will now take up her old battle against arch rival Lim
\nXiaoqing of Sweden, who easily overcame World Championships
\nrunner-up Han Jingna of China 11-2, 11-2 to finish unbeaten in
\nGroup B.<\/p>\n
\"Lim is a player with excellent variations, but I'm trying to
\ndo my best,\" said Susi, who has only lost one of her 10 games
\nagainst the Swede.<\/p>\n
Alan never let Dong slack off in their Group D match, with
\nboth players displaying acrobatic smashes in the opening set. But
\nthe Chinese ran out of the steam in the second, giving Alan more
\nroom to land his sizzling strokes.<\/p>\n
\"I played my favorite game today. Dong lacked the stamina
\nnecessary to survive such a quick game,\" Alan, who stretched his
\nwinning streak over Dong to 4-0, said.<\/p>\n
Alan will have another clash against teammate Ardy in today's
\nsemifinals. Ardy played his third consecutive long game before
\nseeing off Fung Permadi, a former teammate who now plays for
\nChinese Taipei, 15-4, 8-15, 15-3.<\/p>\n
\"I'd rather meet a foreign rival than my own mate,\" Alan said.
\n\"However, I'll have to fight it out in tomorrow's battle,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The other men's singles semifinal will pit Joko, who beat
\nSouth Korean Kim Hak-kyun 17-16, 15-5, against Group C winner
\nChen. The Chinese breezed past Thomas Johansson of Sweden 15-6,
\n15-2 yesterday.<\/p>\n
Uber Cup heroine Mia Audina proved herself the rightful future
\nheir to Susi's crown when she outplayed All-England finalist
\nCamila Martin of Denmark 11-8, 12-9 to accompany Susi into the
\nwomen's singles semifinals.<\/p>\n
It was sweet revenge for Mia, who crashed to the Dane in the
\nAll-England quarterfinals last March. \"I managed to relax,
\ndespite the nerve-wrecking match,\" 15-year-old Mia said of her
\nvictory.<\/p>\n
Mia, however, faces a daunting test today as she is tipped to
\nmeet world champion Ye Zhaoying of China, who fought back from a
\nfirst-set defeat to brush aside Yuliani Sentosa of Indonesia 10-
\n12, 11-6, 11-1 yesterday. (arf\/amd)<\/p>\n
Photo -- Page 10<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/susi-and-alan-on-course-for-another-olympic-engagement-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }