National players ease into third round at Milo juinor badminton tournament
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.