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.