National players ease into Milo third round
National players ease into Milo third round
Musthofid
The Jakarta Post
Surabaya
Indonesia's national players marched undefeated through the
second round of the Milo Junior Open badminton championships,
held at the Sudirman Sports Hall here on Wednesday.
The 16 shuttlers, who have been training at the national
badminton center for four months, proved to be too strong for
their opponents, particularly in the singles matches, with only
Maria Kristin struggling to make it to the third round.
Holvy De Pauw, the only national team member in the boys'
singles and the top seed at the tournament, dropped only two
points in his 15-2, 15-0 drubbing of Edwin of the WCM club.
The top seed in the girls' singles, Dewi Tira Arisandi, lost
only three points in her 11-2, 11-1 win over Angelina Santoso of
Mutiara Bandung. Fitria Firdaus was even more dominant in her
match against Indira Wahyu Pribadi, crushing the Jaya Raya player
11-0, 11-0.
A. Firdasari, Maria Elfira, Richasari and Siti Mahiroh also
proved easy winners, with Firdasari beating Yunita of the West
Java Milo Team 11-1, 11-2.
Elfira and Richasari were each 11-1, 11-5 winners over Nova
Resti Amalia of the Jakarta Milo Team and local hopeful Jessica,
respectively, while Siti dispatched Intan of WCN Surabaya 11-2,
11-4.
Maria Kristin was given an early fright in her match against
Yuan Kartika of the Jakarta Milo Team. She lost the opening set
11-13, but stormed back to win the next two sets 11-8, 11-2.
National team coach Asep Suharno attributed Kristin's
struggles to a loss of concentration.
"None of our players have faced any strong opposition in the
tournament so far. Only Maria was stretched to three sets, and
that was because she let up when she was leading 10-3 in the
opening set. She fell apart and somehow allowed the opponent to
build up some confidence," Asep said.
The fact that the opponents thus far have been a class below
the national players has brought about its own special mental
burdens, which Asp said was good for building mental toughness.
"This situation help them learn how to cope with being
expected to win every match. That's good because that's what we
have aimed for with this team. They have to get used to being in
these situations.
"This is a good opportunity for them to gain match experience
and to get the mental training of champions. This is essential to
them for their careers," he said.
As far as the matches between local shuttlers and the foreign
athletes taking part in the event, Indonesia has so far gotten
the better of play.
However, some visitors were able to cruise into the third
round, most notably Japan's Kazuno Kento, Wong Wai Hong of Hong
Kong and Ong Soon Chiang of Malaysia.
Kento made short work of Robi of West Java, winning 15-3, 15-
2. Wong was made to struggle some in his match, but still
defeated Wisnu Haryo Putro of the Central Java Milo Team 15-6,
15-13. And Ong edged Rama Yasin of East Kalimantan 15-8, 15-11.
The opening rounds of the mixed doubles event have been
completed and the quarterfinals will begin on Thursday, with all
three national pairs figuring in the action.
Hendra Setiawan/Devi Sukma, who had to fight back against
Suherlan/Olivia to secure a 5-11, 11-8, 11-5 victory, will face
Alroy/Pipit Dian Apsari.
Joko Riyadi/Nathalia will meet M. Rizal/Meilyana on Thursday
after beating Ligga/Jane David 11-5, 11-4, while Markis Kido/
Lilyana Natsir overcame Jonathan/Nadya Ivana Andiyanti 5-11, 11-
8, 11-1 to book a place in the quarterfinals against Mega
Birlian/Greysia Polii.