Local shuttlers shut out of Asian junior finals

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It was a bleak Saturday for local junior badminton, with all singles and doubles players eliminated in the semifinals of the 8th Asian Junior Badminton Championship.

In the boys' singles, Adnan Fauzi lost to Lu Qicheng of China 7-15, 15-8, 5-15, while in girls' singles, Bellaetrix Mannuputty also went down to China's Wang Yihan 6-11, 4-11.

In boys' doubles, Mohammad Ahsan/Viki Indra Okvana were little trouble for South Korea's Lee Yong Dae/Cho Gun Woo, losing 8-15, 2-15.

In girls' doubles, Gresya Polii/Nitya Korwa were another victim of the great pool of Chinese badminton talent, fighting to the end before bowing to Cheng Shu/Liao Jingmei 15-7, 15-17, 13- 15.

"We prepared them, but this is our maximum result," said Badminton Association of Indonesia vice chairman Ferial Sofyan.

"Most of our junior players lack experience compared to Chinese and Korean players."

He said several of the players came close to winning, but encountered "bad luck".

"Fauzi was forced to deciding games in all his matches, so in the semifinal he lacked stamina. Gresya/Nitya lost in a tight match because Nitya was vulnerable due to her lack of experience."

If the tournament is any gauge of the future of badminton, then China and Korea, which will contest all of the finals on Sunday, will continue to reign supreme.

The lone exception is the girls' singles, where China is assured the title. Wang Lin defeated Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong 11- 5, 11-7 to meet Wang Yihan.

The finals start at 1 p.m. in the Indoor Tennis Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

China won the girls' team title on Wednesday, while Korea took the boys. Last year, China took six of the seven titles, losing the boys' doubles to Korea.