Flandi, Eng Hian edge out top seeds

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's players moved closer to an all-Indonesia final in the men's doubles at the Korea Open badminton tournament, with two pairs managing to advance to the semifinals.

Sixth seeds Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian upset host pair and top seeds Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon 15-12, 15-12 in the quarterfinals on Friday to book a semifinal place against seventh seeds Sang Yang and Zhang Bo of China.

Sang and Yang earlier overcame Thai top doubles Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas 15-4, 7-15, 15-6.

The other semifinal on Saturday will pit Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto of Indonesia against hosts Yim Bang-eun and Kim Yong-hyun.

Alven and Luluk defeated fellow Indonesians Sigit Budiarto and Tri Kusharyanto 15-3, 15-4 while Yim and Kim marched ahead at the expense of Jim Laugesen and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark 9-15, 17- 14, 15-7.

Luluk and Alven have evened the score from their previous two meetings with their Korean counterparts. The Koreans won their match in 2003 All England and the Indonesians triumphed in the 2003 Taiwan Open.

With Luluk and Alven being on a high after their match on Thursday in which they chalked up their first win over second seeds Fu Haifeng and Cai of China, Indonesian team coach Hery Iman Pierngadi was optimistic that his proteges would be able to fight through their last barrier to set up an all-Indonesian final.

"I hope Luluk and Alven will not lose their stamina," Hery said as quoted by Antara.

In the mixed doubles, Indonesian pair Nova Widoanto and Vita Marissa were unable to clinch a first win in their match against world champions Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min.

Nova and Vita, who were seeded sixth, surrendered 15-10, 15-3 to concede the fifth loss in their five encounters.