Indonesia crusies past Germany to take on South Korea in quarterfinals
Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta
Indonesian girls finally got a victory when first singles Silvi Antarini led the team to a crushing defeat of Germany 3-0 in the knockout playoff round, which put them in Uber Cup Championship quarterfinals at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.
However, the girls need to ramp up their energy in an encounter against second seeded South Korea on Wednesday.
In another quarterfinal match, fifth seed Denmark meets the Netherlands, which outplayed South Africa 3-0 in the playoffs. Malaysia will challenge defending champion China after beating Australia 3-0, while third seed Chinese Taipei is to play an interesting match against fourth seed Japan, which earned the quarterfinals place after it breezed through Canada 3-0.
Silvi -- whose parents' home was demolished in a string of evictions last year and now lives in a house provided by her Jaya Raya club owner Ciputra -- overcame her nerves and played well to tame world No. 12 Xu Huaiwen of Germany 11-6, 13-11.
Compatriot Maria Kristin widened the gap for the host team to 2-0 by defeating Juliane Schenk 11-8, 1-11, 11-4. In the third singles, Adrianti Firdasari sealed the first team win for Indonesia in the championships when Nicole Grether bowed out 11- 7, 11-8.
The playoffs do not play the final game or games if one team reaches 3 wins before all five have been played.
Silvi, ranked 66th in the world, admitted that she was not 100 percent sure that she could win the opening match, but she was determined to contribute a point for the team.
"I rushed myself to finish the match and I lost my concentration. She immediately took control of the play. Luckily, I managed to focus again," she said.
Xu claimed she did not play her best due to the wind from the left side.
"The wind made me think negatively, which eventually affected my performance," she said.
Indonesia victory sealer Firda expressed her happiness to win the match. The 17-year-old girl won the crowd's heart with her aggressive attacks against Grether.
The German could have won the second game when trying to close the gap from 10-4 to 10-8, but Firda's smashes were too fierce for Grether.
Singles coach Ivana Lie said the team needed full support from home fans as it was the ultimate motivation for the players.
"The thundering sound of fans can strengthen weak feet, boost descending spirit and most important to remind the players for whom they are playing," she said.
Ivana said she could understand the public pessimism over the national squad's chances against Korea but she said "nothing is impossible in sports".
"As long as we have the will, the spirit, we can do it. Moreover, we are playing in our homeland."
Team manager Christian Hadinata said the shuttlers were aware that the Koreans had better rankings but his team would give their best shots. He added that the girls would be ready for tiring matches as the Koreans were famous for playing persistent games.
Silvi has a 1-1 overall record against Korea's top player Jun Jae-youn. Her last encounter with Jun was in the Asian Badminton Championships in Malaysia where Jun beat her 11-4, 11-6. In an earlier meeting, also in the Asian Badminton Championships, in Jakarta last year, Silvi got by the Korean 6-11, 11-4, 11-9.