Candra and Tony clinch spot in Taipei Open
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)