It's Sony-Gopichand in quarterfinals

JAKARTA (JP): Young Indonesian shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro cruised into the quarterfinals of the US$170,000 Sanyo Indonesia Open quarterfinals, where he will face All England champion Pullela Gopichand of India.

Sony easily defeated Ismail Saman of Malaysia 7-2, 7-5, 7-2 in their third-round match on Thursday at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium, where he enjoyed the raucous support of the home fans who filled the bleachers. Most of those rooting Sony on were soldiers deployed to secure the Senayan area, which is near the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly.

"I decided to go on the attack in the first two games. It was not an easy match at all because Ismail is a good shuttler," Sony said during a postmatch press conference.

"I didn't have any problems with my physical endurance in the third game, but I let my guard down and underestimated Ismail a little bit."

Discussing his quarterfinals game against Gopichand, dubbed the Indian Express, Sony said all he could do was try his best.

"Gopichand has good strokes and rarely makes unforced errors. I'll adapt to his style and at the same time try to improve my accuracy. The only target I have is to play my best."

Gopichand jumped all over his third-round opponent, Malaysian Ayob Sairul Amar, 7-2, 7-1, and looked set to cruise to an easy victory. But he then proceeded to lose the third and fourth games 5-7, 3-7, before calling on his experience to pressure his opponent and win the decisive fifth game 7-0.

"I made many unforced errors in the third and fourth games and Ayob played more aggressively. You can't afford to make errors with the new scoring system. A two-point deficit can endanger your match," he said.

"About tomorrow's quarters, I have never really seen Sony's form but I'll just do my best and see what happens on the court. But I am sure he must be a good shuttler to have beaten Hariyanto and Vaughn in the earlier rounds."

Indonesia has just one other men's singles player in the quarterfinals, with old-hand Marlev Mainaky defeating Park Tae- sang of South Korea 7-3, 0-7, 0-7, 7-3, 7-5. He will face Agus Hariyanto of Hong Kong, who toppled Indonesia's Taufiq Hidayat 7- 2, 0-7, 7-3, 7-3.

In other third-round matches, the top seeded Lee Hyung-il of South Korea beat Indonesian Johan Hadikusuma, 7-3, 7-0, 5-7, 7-5.

"It was a difficult game, especially because we met in last week's Malaysian Open," Lee said through his coach, Sung Han- kook.

"My victory today means I'll have fewer problems in my next matches. I aim to get through to the final," he said.

Lee will meet Malaysian James Chua, who defeated Fung Permadi of Chinese Taipei 7-3, 7-3, 7-1. Collin Haughton of England topped Niels Christian Kaldau of Denmark 7-5, 7-3, 1-7, 3-7, 7-2, and will now face Malaysia's Lee Tsuen Seng, who triumphed over Tam Kai Chuen of Hong Kong 7-4, 7-0, 4-7, 7-5.

In women's action, Indonesia's former women's singles number one player, Chindana Hartono, surprised herself by upsetting third seed and 1998 Commonwealth Games champion Kelly Morgan of Wales 7-0, 7-0, 7-1, 7-3.

Chindana, who has been struggling with a knee injury since February last year, said: "I was surprised with the win as I have not played in big events (lately) because of the injury to my left knee. I only played domestic tournaments during the recovery process."

In the quarters, she will face Mika Anjo of Japan who beat Indonesia's Firdasari Andrinti 1-7, 8-6, 8-6, 3-7, 8-6 in the third round.

The top seeded Wang Chen of Hong Kong eliminated Atu Rosalina of Indonesia 7-2, 6-8, 7-5, 7-4, earning her the right to meet fifth seeded Ng Mee Fen of Malaysia, who sweated out a 7-4, 7-2, 6-8, 1-7, 7-2 victory over Dian Novita of Indonesia.

Second seeded Lidya Djaelawidjaja of Indonesia will meet Wai Chee Louisa Koon of Hong Kong in the quarters, advancing with a 7-0, 7-2, 3-7, 8-6 win over Japan's Sachiko Sekimoto.

Indonesia is also still alive in the men's, women's and mixed doubles, with shuttlers advancing in all three events.

Due to the Assembly Special Session and the political turmoil here, many countries, including badminton powerhouse China, decided to pull out of the five-star tournament. While other countries, including Denmark, Malaysia and South Korea, opted to send their second-string shuttlers to the event. (nvn)