Candra and Tony clinch spot in Taipei Open

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia was saved a place in the men's doubles final of the US$150,000 Chinese Taipei Open after top seeds Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan defeated Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung of South Korea in Saturday's semifinals.

Candra and Tony won 15-11, 8-15, 15-6 to face Malaysians Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock, the 1996 Olympic Games silver medalists, on Sunday.

Unseededs Cheah and Yap upset seventh seeds Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen of Denmark, who defeated Indonesians Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian 10-15, 10-15 in Friday's quarterfinals.

Candra and Tony reached the semifinals at the Taipei Municipal Sports Center after eliminating compatriots Sigit Budiarto and Halim Heryanto 15-8, 15-5 on Friday. The other doubles of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky bowed out to Lee and Yoo 15-13, 9-15, 1- 15.

In the mixed doubles, Indonesia failed to create an all- Indonesian final as both doubles had to bow out to their Danish contenders.

Top seeded Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur were easily upset by second seeded Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen 8-15, 3-15. In another semifinal, compatriots Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana bowed out after struggling against Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager 13-15, 12-15.

Coach Richard Mainaky said in a telephone interview that Tri performed below his standard in Saturday's match, while Sogaard played his best and was full of confidence, especially when the Danish duo beat Lee Dong-soo and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea in the quarterfinals.

"I haven't asked Tri what's wrong with him but I saw him losing his concentration from the beginning. His strokes were inaccurate and his defense was really weak," he said.

"Tri should have performed patiently against Sogaard and he should have focused his attention only on the match. Obviously, both Tri and Minarti had troubles overcoming the pressure, especially in the second game when they spoiled a lot of chances by making many unforced errors."

With the absence of world number one Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China and top seeded Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min of South Korea, Tri and Minarti had a greater chance to collect more titles.

Speaking on Bambang and Zelin's performance, Richard said both players failed to take chances in nabbing critical points.

"Bambang was so tense and his serves were faulted by the service judge at those moments. On the other hand, Jens played more relaxed and better."

Indonesia's women's doubles Emma Ermawati and Vita Marissa lost to Helene Kirkeegard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 7-15, 1-15.

In men's singles, world number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark will face Malaysia's young star Wong Choong Han.

In women's singles, former Indonesian starlet Mia Audina, who is playing for the Netherlands, created a big surprise by reaching the finals from the qualifying round.

Mia upset top seed and world champion Camilla Martin of Denmark in the quarterfinals and defeated fourth seeded Yazuko Mizui of Japan in Saturday's match. She will face Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn of Thailand, who upset second seeded Kim Ji- hyun of South Korea. (yan)