Indonesian pair makes early exit

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