Indonesia grabs three berth of Open finals

Indonesia grabs three berth of Open finals

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian shuttlers secured three final spots
in the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles in the
US$180,000 Yonex Japan Open in Tokyo.

Men's singles Hendrawan, seeded fourth in the tournament,
stopped the giant-killing run of Malaysia's Roslin Hashim after
winning 15-7, 7-15, 15-8 in Saturday's semifinals.

"Roslin seemed to be losing his energy after making huge runs
by killing seeded players here. He performed three times in tough
matches. But he didn't play really well today," Hendrawan told
The Jakarta Post.

Hendrawan will face sixth seeded Ji Xinpeng of China. Sunday's
match will be their first meeting.

Ji upset teammate Xia Xuanze, the All England and Swiss Open
winner, after the latter retired in the first game which Ji
narrowly led 7-6.

Hendrawan aims to end his title drought of nearly two years.
His last title was the Singapore Open in July 1998.

"Of course, I have a mounting motivation to win a title here.
But I think Ji will take advantage of me as he barely sweated
today. I have to be very careful tomorrow," said the 1998 Asian
Games silver medalist.

"We both have equal chances to win. Ji is a good player. He
has good technical skills and he's a tough player, while I'm in
good condition, although I just recovered from hepatitis last
month. I will fight the best I can tomorrow."

The Indonesian men's doubles failed to create an all-Indonesia
finals after seniors Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky bowed out to
second seeded Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung 12-15, 7-15.

The Koreans will challenge top seeds Candra Wijaya and Tony
Gunawan, who overcame seniors Bambang Suprianto and Tri
Kusheryanto, mixed doubles specialists, 15-6, 15-13.

Indonesia still has another chance to collect a title in the
mixed doubles after second seeds Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti
Timur crushed Chinese third seeds Zhang Jun and Gao Ling 15-8,
15-5.

They will meet top seeds Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China, who
blew Indonesia's dream of all-Indonesian final by eliminating
Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana 15-9, 15-7.

China ensured two titles in the women's singles and doubles.

In the women's singles, All England winner Gong Zhichao
repeated her successful run of outclassing junior Dai Yun, runner
up in the 1999 World Championships, 11-3, 11-2.

Gong will face senior Ye Zhaoying, who blocked Denmark's
sweetheart Camilla Martin's way to the final by defeating her
11-4, 13-10.

In the women's doubles, top seeds Ge Fei and Gu Jun were much
too powerful to South Koreans Yim Kyung-jin and Lee Hyo-jung to
win 15-3, 15-0.

They will meet Chinese second best Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei,
who fought hard to beat teammates Chen Lin and Jiang Xuelian
before winning the match 3-15, 17-16, 15-13. (yan)