Candra, Sigit into semis in Korea

Candra, Sigit into semis in Korea

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The veteran men's doubles pairing of Candra Wijaya and Sigit
Budiarto took their second seeded scalp on Friday to book a place
in the semifinals of badminton's Noonnoppi Korea Open.

The 2003 All England champions, unseeded in the tournament
after undergoing several partner switches in recent years, beat
third seeded Kwok Wa Liu and Albert Susanto Njoto of Hong Kong
15-8, 15-5 in 40 minutes in Incheon City.

On Thursday, the Indonesians had clinched a closely fought
match with sixth seeded Koreans Tae Kwon ha and Bang Eun Yim.

Up next on Saturday is the challenge of local favorites Jae
Sung Jung and Jae Jin Lee. It will be an opportunity to avenge
the loss of fellow Indonesians Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven
Yulianto, who were defeated in straight games by the Koreans in
the second round.

In the other half of the draw, China's Zhendong Guo and
Zhongbo Xie meet second seeded Danes Jen Eriksen and Martin
Lundgaard.

Earlier in the day, the lone remaining Indonesian pair in the
mixed doubles, Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, also made the
last four with a 15-6, 15-7 victory over Zhongbo and Yawen Zhang
of China.

The fifth seeds face Korean seventh seeds Jae Jin Lee and Hyo
Jung Lee, who drubbed their compatriots Yong Dae Lee and Jung Eun
Ha 15-3, 15-2. The easy result was surprising as Ha and Lee
defeated top seeded Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms in the first
round.

In the men's singles, first seed Peter Gade of Denmark fought
off Malaysia's Sairul Amar Ayob 15-11, 15-4 to set up a semifinal
against local player Park Sung Hwan.

In the women's singles, Pi Hongyan reached the semis by coming
back from a game down to beat Eriko Hirose of Japan. The top seed
next plays talented Wang Chen of China.