Host players secure two titles, Sony shut out
Host players secure two titles, Sony shut out
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Although host players assured themselves two doubles titles on
Saturday in badminton's Indonesia Open, a local representative is
noticeably absent from Sunday's prestigious men's singles final.
After titleholder and World champion Taufik Hidayat bowed out
in the third round, it was up to 14th seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro to
keep national hopes alive on Saturday.
After an excellent first game in which he dictated the play,
Sony let South Korean lefty Lee Hyun Il back into the match.
Seventh seeded Lee, who also beat Sony at the 2003 Indonesia
Open, seized the opportunity for a 6-15, 15-7, 15-7 victory.
National men's players have won the singles crown every year
since 1999, with Taufik sweeping the title five times and Marleve
Mainaky triumphing in 2001.
The doubles teams had delighted the home crowd with earlier
victories in Senayan, Central Jakarta, to set up all-Indonesian
finals.
World mixed doubles champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana
Natsir, who beat Songpoi Anukritaywan and Kulchala
Worawichitchaikul of Thailand 15-5, 15-5 on Saturday, will face
compatriots Anggun Nugroho and Yunita Tetty for the crown.
The seventh seeded Indonesians upset South Korean second seeds
Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung 15-13, 5-15, 17-15, coming back from an
11-14 third game deficit.
Chandra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, the men's doubles runners-
up at the worlds in the United States in August, meet younger
pairing Markis Kidho/Hendra Setiawan in the final.
Top seeded Chandra/Sigit outclassed fifth seeded Danes Carsten
Mogensen/Mathias Boe 15-4, 15-11, while seventh seeds
Markis/Hendra survived a tussle with Malaysian unseeded duo of
Lee Wan Wah/Choong Tan Fock 17-16, 17-14.
"We just played fearlessly on critical points, and we won,"
Anggun said at the postmatch press conference. "Tomorrow, we will
see on court who is the champion."
Nova said they were highly motivated to win their first ever
title on home soil. "It's our chance to win the title, we will
not let the chance go."
The finals begin at 12:30 p.m.
In the men's singles final, Lee will meet eighth seed Boonsak
Ponsana of Thailand, who rallied to upset top seed Kenneth
Jonassen of Denmark 3-15, 17-14, 15-13.
In the women's singles, eighth seeded Indonesian-born Mia
Audina Tjiptawan of the Netherlands faces third seed Wang Chen of
Hong Kong.