Indonesian shuttlers go to Asian Games semifinals

BANGKOK (JP): Badminton powerhouse Indonesia received some early scares but regained its winning form to crush Hong Kong 5-0 in the men's team quarterfinals at the Asian Games on Wednesday.

Indonesia's first two singles players, Hendrawan and Taufik Hidayat, each dropped an early set, later blaming the competition's organizers for not allowing them time to become accustomed to the court, located in the sports complex of Thammasat University.

"I haven't played here before, and unfortunately I did not have enough time to get used to the venue," world number five Hendrawan said after his 12-15, 15-4, 15-2 win.

Indonesia training center director Christian Hadinata, who looked unimpressed by the way his ace players handled their matches, said he regretted the Bangkok Asian Games Organizing Committee's (BAGOC) decision not to allow all of the participating teams time to practice at the venue.

"I don't know what the restriction is for, but it has never happened in any other competition. We filed a complaint but the BAGOC persisted," said Christian, a former badminton great in doubles.

Christian said the Hong Kong team had the advantage of playing more matches than third seeded Indonesia, which received a first- round bye.

Hendrawan got off to an error-ridden start, hitting numerous wide returns and feeding flat shots to his opponent, who thanked him for the favors with smashes.

In the second singles match, Taufik beat Liu Kwok-Wa 15-5, 11- 15, 15-6 in 40 minutes, before Hong Kong Open champion Budi Santoso settled the issue with an easy 15-7, 15-5 win over Ng Wei.

Indonesia's new doubles team of Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, also winners in Hong Kong, had no trouble overcoming Chow Kin-Man and Yau Kwun Yuen 15-6, 15-1.

The world number one doubles team of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky displayed an almost flawless game as they beat Ma Che- Kong and Liu Kwon-Wa 15-7, 15-4 to complete the drubbing.

Defending champion Indonesia will meet archrival Malaysia in Thursday's semifinals. Malaysia beat Chinese Taipei 4-1 in their quarterfinals match.

In the women's team competition, top seeded China, powered by its world-class players, thrashed Hong Kong 5-0.

World number one Ye Zhaoying defeated Ling Wan-Ting, who staged a surprising comeback in the second set, before losing 11- 1, 13-10. China's number two singles player, Gong Zhichao, beat Ng Ching 11-5, 11-1, and China's number three singles player, Zhang Ning, trounced Koon Wai-Chee 11-5, 11-0 to give China an unbeatable 3-0 lead.

In the doubles, world number two Qin Yiyuan and Tang Hetian beat Tung Chau-Man and Chan Mei-Mei 15-2, 15-3, while world number one Ge Fei and Gu Jun easily defeated Ling Wang-Ting and Koon Wai-Chee 15-2, 15-6.

In the semifinals, China will play Japan, which beat host Thailand 4-1 on Wednesday.

The other semifinal match will pit Indonesia against South Korea. (yan)