Indonesian pair makes early exit
By Primastuti Handayani
COPENHAGEN (JP): Indonesia's top-seeded men's doubles team of Antonius and Denny Kantono became another victim of the upset-bug during the second-day of the badminton World Championships on Wednesday.
The Indonesians, ranked first in the world and the winners of the Grand Prix Finals, made an unexpected early exit after bowing out to Chinese rookies Chen Qiqiu and Yu Jinhao 17-15, 3-15, 13- 15.
"Actually they were not special. They were only strong and powerful. But we failed to improve our defense. We could have become more offensive before they had a chance, but we failed to do that in the third game when leading 8-1," Antonius said.
"We should not have lost to such players. I believe if we meet them again, we can beat them," he said.
Denny said: "They played better than veterans Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei, seeded number 11."
The Indonesians led 8-1 in the deciding set, but the Chinese cut the lead to 8-6. Antonius and Denny then pulled ahead 11-6, but on the strength of their leaping smashes, the Chinese closed the gap to 11-10.
Leading 13-12, Antonius and Denny spoiled their chances to put away the match with unforced errors, giving the victory to the Chinese.
"I really wanted to win the match. I was confident of doing so before playing," Yu said.
"I never thought of victory before the match. But when we led 14-13 I knew we were about to win," Chen said.
Chinese coach Liu Xin Min said: "It's very good revenge because for a year we have not been able to beat one of the Indonesian men's doubles teams."
Indonesia's assistant team manager, Christian Hadinata, expressed disappointment with Antonius and Denny's performance.
"They should have changed their strategy when the Chinese trailed. They should not have given them lobs because the Chinese pair are very good on the attack. Although Antonius and Denny are very good on defense, they should have played their drive or placing defense. But they failed to adjust to the situation," he said.
Indonesia's third-seeded men's doubles team of Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya won in a walkover after Martins Kazemaks and Edijs Livins of Latvia failed to arrive for the match.
Compatriots Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, the second-seeded men's doubles team, barely broke a sweat during their match against Patrick Boonen and David Wandewinkel of Belgium, posting an easy 15-7, 15-6 win.
The Indonesian women's doubles pairing of Cynthia Tuwankotta and Etty Tantri also won in a walkover after Kristina Sefere and Magarita Mikelsone of Latvia failed to show.
Other upsets
Indonesia's Ellen Angelina failed to post another upset win during her Tuesday evening match against Denmark's Camilla Martin. The inexperienced Ellen fell 9-11, 11-7, 11-9.
"I spoiled it. She was unable to move on the court but I failed to take advantage of the opportunities. I made unforced errors on critical points," said Ellen.
Agus Dwi Santoso, the men's singles coach training Ellen during the championships, said: "The enemy was not in front of her but inside her. She was afraid to win and was not sure of herself."
In the men's singles, Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock was upset by Vladislav Druzchenko of Ukraine 13-15, 3-15.
Malaysian head coach Martin Frost Hansen said: "I don't know what's wrong with him (Ong). Our preparation was good and I never saw him play like that. It surprised me very much. He didn't have any problems with his physical condition."
Ong injured his hamstring during the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and was hit by a virus at the Grand Prix Finals in Brunei Darussalam in February.
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, the eldest seeded player in the championships at 33, had to use all his energy to overcome little-known Rio Suryana, an Indonesian playing for Australia, 17-14, 15-5.
Hoyer-Larsen will next face Peter Knowles of England, who defeated Andrej Pohar of Slovakia 15-6, 15-3.
Selected results
Wednesday's results (x-denotes seeding):
Men's doubles: Chen Qiqiu/Yu Jinhao (Chn) bt (1) Antonius/Denny Kantono (Ina) 15-17, 15-3, 15-13; (4) Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Ina) bt Alastair Gatt/Craig Robertson (Sco) 15-4, 15-8; (6) Jens Eriksen/Jesper Larsen (Den) bt Sergio Llopis/Jose Antonio Crespo (Spa) 15-7, 15-2; (13) Simon Archer/Nathan Robertson (Gbr) bt Frederik Bergstrom/Henrik Andersson (Swe) 15-4, 15-2; (3) Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan (Ina) bt Martins Kazemaks/Edijs Livins (Lat) WO; (2) Flandy Limpele/Eng Hian (Ina) bt Patrick Boonen/David Wandewinkel (Bel) 15-7, 15-6
Women's doubles: (1) Huang Nanyan/Yang Wei (Chn) bt Karen Stechmann/Nicole Grether (Ger) 15-1, 15-3; (15) Etty Tantri/Cynthia Tuwankotta (Ina) bt Kristina Sefere/Magarita Mikelsone (Lat) WO; (8) Helene Kirkegaard/Pernille Harder (Den) bt Raina Tzvetkova/Pelia Nedeltcheva (Bul) 15-11, 15-6
Tuesday's results:
Men's singles: (15) Dong Jiong (Chn) bt Oliver Pongratz (Ger) 15-10, 15-9; (8) Hendrawan (Ina) bt Park Tae-sang (Kor) 15-12, 15-9; Rashid Sidek (Mal) bt Rikard Magnusson (Swe) 15-12, 9-15, 15-4; (4) Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Den) bt Rio Suryana (Aus) 17-14, 15-5; (10) Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Polsana Boonsak (Tha) 15-6, 15-10; (2) Sun Jun (Chn) bt Ricardo Fernandes (Por) 15-4, 15-5; Vladislav Druzchenko (Ukr) bt (9) Ong Ewe Hock (Mal) 15-3, 15-3
Women's singles: (3) Camilla Martin (Den) bt Ellen Angelina (Ina) 9-11, 11-7, 11-9; (10) Cindana Hartono (Ina) bt Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn (Tha) 11-5, 11-5
Mixed doubles: (1) Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (Kor) bt Lee Hyun- il/Lee Hyo-jung (Kor) 15-4, 15-6; (4) Tri Kusherjanto/Minarti Timur (Ina) bt Vincent Lobo/Archana Deodhar (Ind) 15-4, 15-4; (8) Liu Yong/Ge Fei (Chn) bt Vilatij Shmakov/Vlada Tcherniavskaia (Blr) 15-2, 15-1