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)