China to meet S. Korea, Indonesia faces Denmark in semis

By Primastuti Handayani

COPENHAGEN (JP): Defending champion China will challenge South Korea, while home favorite Denmark will face Indonesia in the reserve semifinals of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships at Brondby Hall on Friday.

China tops Group A after wins over Malaysia 4-1 and Indonesia 3-2, while Denmark beat Sweden 5-0 and South Korea 3-2.

China led 2-0 at Wednesday's Group B round-robin, thanks to women's doubles Ge Fei and Gu Jun and women's singles Dai Yun. Indonesian juniors Cynthia Tuwankotta and Etty Tantri nearly took the game from Ge and Gu in a close 13-15 finish. But in the second game, the Indonesian pair suffered a resounding 2-15 loss.

"In the first game, we were able to perform as expected. But in the second game, our defense was fading and we were indecisive in our attack. We were very nervous as it was our first team event match," said Cynthia, who hails from Ambon.

In the women's singles Dai Yun overwhelmed Ellen Angelina 6- 11, 3-11.

But the All England men's doubles champion, Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, kept Indonesia's chances open by denying victory to Zhang Jun and Yu Jinhao. The scores were 15-4, 10-15 and 15-8.

"The Chinese duo played well and without any worries. They have a good offense and flat drives. Candra and Tony had to win the match... It's a good warmup for them," said deputy team manager Christian Hadinata.

However, he said improvement was still necessary from his players. "Tony still needs to work on his serves, while Candra will have to improve his defense placing," said Christian, the former men's doubles coach.

Candra said: "In the second game, we were overconfident and started to underestimate the Chinese pairs. Luckily we were able to fight back."

Men's singles Taufik Hidayat, the All England finalist, contributed another point when he defeated Dong Jiong 15-11, 15- 4.

"I think Dong didn't play as well as usual. His performance is deteriorating," said Taufik, who lost to Dong in the 1998 Asian Games individual men's singles semifinals.

Christian complimented the 18-year-old shuttler, saying that Taufik performed extremely well, with few unforced errors.

"(Placed) in very difficult positions, Taufik was always able to return the ball and leave Dong unable to counter," he said.

Slight chance

In the do-or-die match, the mixed duo of Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana did not perform to the best of their abilities and were a walkover for world champion Ge Fei and Liu Yong 4-15, 4- 15.

Team manager Agus Wirahadikusumah said he was not disappointed with the athletes' performance as the matches were played out as predicted.

"We had a slight chance against China and we wanted to save energy to perform all out in the semifinals against Denmark. We gave everybody chances to warm up and adapt to the court," he said.

Indonesia fielded a different team from that of Tuesday's matches against Malaysia. Men's singles Hendrawan, women's singles Cindana, men's doubles Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, women's doubles Indarti Issoliana and Deyana Lomban and mixed doubles Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur played in Tuesday's matches.

"By fielding completely different players, I have many options to select which players are best and well-prepared for the semifinals against Denmark," Agus said.

Chinese head coach Li Yongbo said his team would hold the match, but expressed frustration with Dong's performance.

"Dong performance was disappointing. If Sun (Jun) had played we would have won the match easier."

Supremacy

In the Group A round-robin match, Denmark showed supremacy before an estimated 2,000-strong home crowd by defeating Sweden 5-0.

Mixed doubles Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen opened the winning streak for Denmark by beating Sweden's Peter Axelsson and Catherine Bengtsson 15-6, 15-9.

World number one Peter Gade Christensen crushed Tomas Johansson 15-3, 15-5, while world number three Camilla Martin barely broke into a sweat by eliminating Margit Borg 11-2, 11-1.

Men's doubles Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen had a tough match against Par-Gunnar Jonsson and Peter Axelsson, but clinched victory 15-11, 15-8. Women's doubles Rikke Olsen and Marlene Thomsen also tasted victory by beating Marina Andrievskaya and Catrine Bengtsson 15-5, 15-8.

Denmark's team manager, Thomas Lund, said: "The results were as expected. Our players have given their best shot. It would have been very surprising if we had lost against Sweden."

"The first day's matches have injected self-confidence into the shuttlers, and we played very well today."

Lund expressed hope his team would be able to beat Indonesia and reach the final.

"We have a very good chance, especially in the men's and women's singles and women's and mixed doubles. The men's doubles will most likely go to Indonesia.

"Indonesia will have to deal not only with our shuttlers but also with the home crowd. That's our advantage."

Results

Wednesday's matches:

Group A:

Denmark 5 Sweden 0: Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen bt Peter Axelsson/Catrine Bengtsson 15-6, 15-9; Peter Gade Christensen bt Tomas Johansson 15-3, 15-5; Camilla Martin bt Margit Borg 11-2, 11-1; Jens Eriksen/Jesper Larsen bt Par-Gunnar Jonsson/Peter Axelsson 15-11, 15-8; Marlene Thomsen/Rikke Olsen bt Marina Andrievskaya/Catrine Bengtsson 15-6, 15-9

Group B:

China 3 Indonesia 2: Ge Fei/Gu Jun bt Etty Tantri/Cynthia Tuwankotta 15-13, 15-2; Dai Yun bt Ellen Angelina 11-6, 11-3; Zhang Jun/Yu Jinhao lost to Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya 4-15, 15- 10, 8-15; Dong Jiong lost to Taufik Hidayat 11-15, 4-15; Liu Yong/Ge Fei bt Bambang Suprianto/Zelin Resiana 15-3, 15-4

Tuesday's matches:

Group A:

South Korea 4 Sweden 1: Ra Kyung-min/Chung Jae-hee bt Marina Andrievskaya/Catrine Bengtsson 15-9, 15-10; Kim Dong-moon/Ha Tae-kwon bt Par-Gunnar Jonsson /Peter Axelsson 15-6, 15-6; Ahn Jae-chang lost to Thomas Johansson 15-10, 5-15, 10-15; Kim Ji-hyun bt Margit Borg 11-9, 11-5; Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min bt Peter Axelsson/Catrine Bengtsson 15-4, 15-8

Group B: Indonesia 4 Malaysia 1: Tri Kusherjanto/Minarti Timur vs Chang Chong Ming/Joanna Quay 15-5, 15-6; Cindana vs Ng Mee Fen 11-6, 11-1; Hendrawan vs Ong Ewe Hock 11-15, 15-8, 15-4; Deyana Lomban/Indarti Issoliana vs Lim Pek Siah/Ang Li Peng 15-6, 15-9; Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky vs Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah 14-17, 15-12, 15-17