Marlev, doubles pairs sail to GP semifinals

JAKARTA (JP): Marlev Mainaky saved Indonesia's blushes in the men's singles competition at the World Badminton Grand Prix final in Brunei Darussalam on Friday.

The Indonesian Open winner reached the semifinals of the 2000 end-of-season tournament after defeating All England champion Pullela Gopichand of India 7-5, 7-4, 7-3 after 33 minutes of play. The result put Marleve on top of Group C with three wins.

In the semifinals on Saturday, Marleve will meet Chen Hong of China, who finished the Group C round-robin stage undefeated following his 7-5, 7-2, 7-3 drubbing of Malaysian veteran Ong Ewe Hock in Friday's other action.

"Marlev played well today. But he must be very careful in the semifinals because Chen has a similar attack-minded style. It will be a tight game tomorrow (Saturday)," coach Agus Dwi Santoso told The Jakarta Post over the phone from Brunei.

"Marlev must improve his serve and prevent Chen from playing an offensive game."

China opened up the chance of setting up an all Chinese final in the men's singles after Xia Xuanze dashed top seed Peter Gade Christensen's hopes of retaining the title with an easy 7-3, 7-1, 7-0 win.

Xie will now face Roslin Hashim, who is now the only Malaysian in contention of the title. Roslin proved world rankings did not matter in the tournament that uses the new scoring system, as he outlasted world champion Hendrawan of Indonesia 7-1, 5-7, 8-6, 7- 0.

"Hendrawan lost his concentration and focus. He could not control the game. Besides, Roslin was playing an excellent game with solid defense," said Agus.

In the other match of the group, Budi Santoso crashed to a second straight defeat, this time to Malaysian Wong Choon Han who won 7-2, 7-1, 7-2.

China moved closer to bagging the women's singles crown after its top shuttlers booked three out of the four semifinal places.

Fourth seed Gong Zhichao of China assured herself of a semifinal berth by edging out Indonesia's Lidya Djaelawijaya 3-7, 0-7, 7-4, 2-7. Gong will now meet compatriot Dai Yun.

In the other semifinal, top seed Zhou Mi of China will face Wang Chen of Hong Kong to show China's domination in the event.

Indonesia is also heavily relying on its men's doubles pairs in the semifinals, opening the way for an All-Indonesian final.

Sydney Olympic gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan topped Group B after outclassing hosts Fadzli Haji Mohammad Masri and Ermadena bin Haji Talip 7-1, 7-3, 7-3.

Candra and Tony will challenge the Group A runner-ups, Danish top seeds Jim Laugesen and Michael Sogaard, who defeated the Polish pairing of Michal Logosz and Robert Mateusiak 7-5, 7-3, 8- 6.

Meanwhile, Halim Haryanto and Sigit Budiarto won Group A after defeating another Danish pairing, this time Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen, 3-7, 7-1, 7-2, 8-6.

Halim and Sigit will face the Chinese pair Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei who defeated second seeds Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske of Denmark in a see-saw match which ended 7-3, 7-1, 7-8, 8-6, 8-6 in the Indonesians' favor.

Other Indonesian representatives in the semifinals are the mixed doubles pairing of Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur, who beat Ian Sullivan and Gail Emms of England 7-5, 5-7, 7-5, 7-2.

Tri and Minarti will face top seeds Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China, who qualified despite losing 2-7, 7-3, 8-3, 0-7, 6-7 to Jens Eriksen and Mette Schkodalger of Denmark in their last group match. The Danes will face compatriots and second seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen in another semifinal.

Top seeds Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei will meet second seeds Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark in the women's doubles semifinals, which also pit Joanne Wright and Gail Emms of England against another Chinese pair, Jiang Xuelian and Chen Lin. (nvn)