Hariyanto and Alan to meet in Hong Kong Open final
Hariyanto and Alan to meet in Hong Kong Open final
HONG KONG (Reuter): World champion Hariyanto Arbi of Indonesia recovered from a sloppy first game yesterday to beat South Korea's Lee Kwang-jin and take his place in the Hong Kong Open final against compatriot Alan Budikusuma.
Hariyanto, the top seed and defending champion, stormed back after a dreadful opening game to defeat the aggressive world number eight 5-15, 15-7, 15-6.
He showed no sign of the thigh injury which has kept him off the circuit for three months and thrilled the crowd with several brilliantly-executed jump smashes.
"The direction of the court was switched from the earlier rounds and I took a while to become accustomed to the draught," said Hariyanto.
"I was a bit scared before the competition as this is my first tournament for several months but I have gained in confidence every game."
Alan, the second seed, had too many shots for unseeded Dane Martin Lundgaard Hansen in the other semifinal and raced to a 15- 4, 15-3 triumph.
"I beat Arbi the last time we played, in the semifinal of the Malaysian Open, and I hope to win again tomorrow. We practice together all the time and know each other's game well -- it will be a good attacking final," said Alan.
Indonesian teenager Mia Audina, the heroine in her country's Uber Cup victory over China two years ago, reached her third final of the year with an upset victory over world champion Ye Zhaoying of China.
Fifth-seeded Audina kept her composure after losing the first game and was helped to an 8-11, 12-10, 11-4 victory by a string of uncharacteristic errors by number two seed Ye.
"I had never beaten her before but today I played the big points well and was very patient - those were the keys," said 16- year-old Audina, who saved four match points in the second game.
Her final opponent will be defending champion Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea who had no trouble disposing of All-England title holder Lim Xiaoqing of Sweden 11-5, 11-1 in just 15 minutes.