Indonesia ensures men's singles final ticket in World C'ships
Indonesia ensures men's singles final ticket in World C'ships
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia secured a berth in the men's singles
final of the World Championship in Seville, Spain, on Sunday as
world number three Taufik Hidayat will challenge compatriot
Hendrawan, 14th seeded here, in Saturday's semifinals.
Hendrawan, in his best performance so far since taking home
the 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medal, had an easy match before
sealing a 15-7, 15-5 victory over ninth seed Xia Xuanze of China
in just 33 minutes.
Earlier, Hendrawan ousted Tam Kai-chuen of Hong Kong 15-3, 15-
12 in Thursday's quarterfinals while Xia beat Anders Boesen of
Denmark 7-15, 15-10, 15-10.
Unlike Hendrawan, Taufik failed to take advantage of his lead
in the first game and had to work hard before beating fifth seed
Lee Hyun-il of South Korea 15-12, 4-15, 15-5 in a tough 85-
minute match.
Earlier, Taufik also had to work hard before beating Malaysian
Wong Choong Hann 15-10, 11-15, 15-7. Meanwhile Lee crushed eighth
seed Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark 15-6, 15-11.
In the other semifinals, Chen Hong of China will challenge
Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark.
Fourth seed Chinese Chen defeated All England winner Pullela
Gopichand of India 15-10, 15-10. Gade-Christensen managed to
avoid becoming another victim to "giant killer" Agus Hariyanto of
Hong Kong by securing an easy 15-4, 15-8 victory.
In the men's doubles, Tony Gunawan and Halim Haryanto cruised
to the semifinals to keep Indonesia's hopes alive after two other
pairs crashed in earlier rounds.
Tony and Halim defeated Olympics silver medalists Lee Dong-soo
and Yoo Yong-sung of South Korea 15-12, 15-9 to set up an
encounter with the Malaysian second best pair of Chew Choon Eng
and Chan Chong Ming.
The Malaysians beat the Danish pair of Lars Paaske and Martin
Lundgaard 15-13, 15-1.
But Indonesia's two duos in the mixed doubles crashed to their
quarterfinals opponents.
Fourth seeds Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur bowed out to
ninth seeds Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min of South Korea 15-11,
15-9 in Thursday's match.
The Koreans reached Saturday's final after upsetting top seeds
Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-7, 15-9 in Friday's
semifinals.
Sogaard and Olsen reached the semifinals after ousting the
Chinese sixth seeds Liu Yong and Cheng Jiao 15-4, 6-15, 15-12.
Another semifinals will feature second seeds Jens Eriksen and
Mette Schjoldager of Denmark against Olympics champions Zhang Jun
and Gao Ling of China.
The Chinese third seeds shattered Indonesians Nova Widhianto
and Vita Marissa's dream of reaching the semifinals after winning
15-9, 15-6.
The mixed doubles team's failure to reach the finals was a
setback to the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI)'s target
of a title in the event. PBSI is also eying two more titles in
the men's singles and men's doubles.
Indonesia's last women's doubles shuttlers also failed to
secure their semifinals berth when the Chinese pair of Zhang
Jiwen and Wei Yili beat Deyana Lomban and Indarti Issoliana 15-8,
15-8.
Zhang and Wei will meet either compatriots first seeds Yang
Wei and Huang Nanyan or the South Korean pair of Ra Kyung-min and
Lee Kyung-won.
In the other semifinals, the Chinese pair of Huang Sui and Gao
Ling secured their berth after having an easy 15-4, 15-5 victory
over Mika Anjo and Chikako Nakayama of Japan.
Huang and Gao will face either compatriots Jiang Xuelian and
Chen Lin or second seeds Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard of
Denmark. (nvn)