Indonesia's shuttlers make semis except for two doubles pairs
Indonesia's shuttlers make semis except for two doubles pairs
By Ivy Susanti
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): A men's doubles team and a mixed
doubles pair were the only Indonesian losers in the quarterfinals
of the badminton competition at the Southeast Asian Games here on
Thursday.
The new pairing of Halim Heryanto and Wahyu Agung Setiawan
went down to top Malaysians Lee Wan Wah and Chong Tan Fook 10-15,
13-15 in a hard-fought men's doubles match played in the packed
Hassanal Bolkiah Indoor Stadium.
Malaysia dealt Indonesia another blow when its mixed doubles
pair of Rosman Abdul Razak and Norhasikin shocked Halim and
Indarti Isolina 15-13, 15-10 for a place in Friday's semifinals.
Despite the loss, national men's doubles team coach Sigit
Pamungkas said he was satisfied with the performance of Halim and
Agung.
"We did not expect them to win the gold medal, but just to be
a hurdle for our major rivals. As for Agung, we have asked him to
concentrate on the mixed doubles."
Indonesia's deputy team manager Retno Kustiyah attributed lack
of experience playing together for deficient teamwork of Halim
and Indarti.
"They lacked time to adapt to each other. They were combined
as part of our strategy to win as many gold medals as possible."
Other Indonesian players cruised safely into the semifinals.
Top seeded Taufik Hidayat thrashed Brunei's Amran Kambar 15-2,
15-3. The All England finalist will next resume his rivalry with
Malaysian third seed Roslin Hashim, who their only encounter at
the Asian Games in December last year.
Indonesian fourth seed Ronny Agustinus reached the final four
with a routine 15-7, 15-8 win over Polsana Boonsak of Thailand.
Ronny, who clinched Indonesia's victory over Malaysia in the
men's team final on Tuesday, will face another Malaysian, Wong
Choon Han.
Coach Joko Suprianto said Taufik held a great chance to avenge
his Asian Games defeat to Hashim.
"Taufik needs only to concentrate on the match and remain
patient. It is not necessary for him to complete the match
quickly because it could backfire on him," said the former world
champion.
Women's singles
In the women's singles, Cindana Hartono Kusuma gave Kennie
Asuncion of the Philippines a badminton lesson in an 11-1, 11-0
drubbing. Indonesian top seed Lidya Djaelawidjaja also advanced
in convincing style by trouncing Nguyen Hanh Dung of Vietnam 11-
1, 11-2.
It is an Indonesia-Thailand affair in the women's singles
semifinals, with Cindana playing Sathinee Jankrajangwong and
Lidya taking on Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn.
Fielding young players, Indonesia, which triumphed in the
men's and women's team events on Tuesday, has set its sights on
winning five gold medals in the Games. It produced a clean sweep
of the seven gold medals at stake in Jakarta two years ago.
It kept its bid to retain the men's doubles alive after top
seeds Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian defeated the Philippine pairing
of Ian Gil Piencenaves and Melvin Llanes 15-4, 15-9. The
Indonesians set up a semifinal clash with Thai dark horses
Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Kitipon Kitikul.
Hopes remain high for Indonesia to clinch the mixed doubles
gold medal after top seeded Agung and Emma Ermawati beat Le Thi
Kim Anh and Tran Duc Sang of Vietnam 15-6, 15-8. They face the
Malaysian pair of Chew Choon Eng and Choo Hoi Yee in the
semifinals.