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

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