Budi one step away from All England title
Budi one step away from All England title
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's sole surviving shuttler Budi Santoso will challenge China's Chen Hong for the men's title in the All England badminton championships in Birmingham on Sunday.
The unseeded Budi reached the final after defeating fourth seeding Lin Dan from China in a thrilling five set match Saturday afternoon.
"It was an incredible performance," Indonesian Team Manager Christian Hadinata said as quoted by Antara.
"Definitely his best ever."
Christian also praised coach Agus Dwi Santoso who guided the young unheralded Indonesian to the pinnacle of his performance.
"Coach Agus anticipated Lin Dan's deadly smash and instructed Budi not to give up easy lobs," he said.
Looking ahead to Sunday's big game, Christian noted that Budi should immediately focus on regaining his physical stamina since the match with Lin Dan was extremely draining.
"If he can maintain his physical condition and perform without any psychological burden like today, he has a good chance of becoming champion," Christian remarked.
Chen Hong will be favorite in winning the coveted title. He showed his worth as second-seed by brushing aside in straight sets fellow countryman Bao Chunlai 8-7, 7-2, 7-5.
The news of Budi's progress was heartwarming for the Indonesian contingent who did not send the top men's shuttler Hendrawan due to illness. In fact the Indonesian team did not even enter a single women's shuttler.
Indonesia also had hopes in the doubles after top seeds Sigit Budiarto/Candra Wijaya edged out Jeremy Gan/Ng Kean Kok of Malaysia 7-5, 7-3, 7-4, to reach the semis. Sigit and Candra are still playing Ha Tae-Kwon/Kim Dong-Moon for a final ticket as of press time.
The other semifinalists are Chinese Cheng Rui/Wang Wei and Flandy Limpele/Eng Hian, the former Indonesian pair now playing for England.
Earlier on the day, Denmark's Camilla Martin kept the European flag flying with a gutsy 7-5 1-7 7-4 7-2 quarter-final victory over Chinese number two seed Zhang Ning.
Martin, world champion in 1999 but seeded only five here, had too much guile for her opponent who struggled to find any fluency.
The Dane is the only European left in both the men's and women's singles and once again finds herself carrying the banner against the might of Asia.
Martin, 27, said: "I have to keep going. I've done it before and it's difficult to be alone against the Chinese army. But they have respect for me and I have respect for them."
Her opponent in the semifinals is China's Dai Yun, the woman she beat in the world championship final three years ago. Martin said: "She's the player I have most respect for."