No more RI shuttlers in Samsung Korea Open
No more RI shuttlers in Samsung Korea Open
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia players crashed out of the
quarterfinals in the US$250,000 Samsung Korea Open on Friday.
Six seeded men's singles Marlev Mainaky fell short of power
and speed to All England winner Xia Xuanze of China losing 9-15,
6-15.
Indonesia's men's doubles Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto
bowed out to second seeds and Olympic silver medalists Lee Dong-
soo and Yoo Yong-sung 10-15, 7-15.
Coach Agus Dwi Santoso told The Jakarta Post that he was very
disappointed with the results as none of the shuttlers managed to
reach the semifinals.
"The results are very disappointing. We had high hopes of
being able to grab a title here but none of our players even
managed to reach the semis," he said in a telephone interview.
Agus said Marlev was much too slow against Xia, the Olympic
bronze medalist, and failed to perform his best due to lack of
preparation.
"His physical fitness did not allow him to play aggressively.
His preparation was not enough because of the long holiday at
yearend."
Marlev said he had tried hard but failed to cope with Xia's
speed and power.
"I tried to attack him from the beginning but my legs were too
slow and he was very fast with his smashes. In the second game, I
managed to increase my speed but it didn't take long. His defense
is really perfect," he told the Post.
Xia will challenge top seed Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark,
who beat host player Park Tae-sang 15-8, 15-10.
Another semis will see Lee Hyun-il of South Korea, who beat
Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 15-7, 15-11, and Xiao Hui of China, who
easily eliminated Kenneth Jonassen 15-4, 15-2.
Agus complained that the doubles match linesmen and service
judge helped the host pair.
"The judge often faulted Tony and Halim services, especially
when they were leading. The unfair judging really influenced
their performance. Sometimes the linesmen made bad calls calling
outside balls 'in'."
Halim declined to comment on the unfair judging saying "I
think it's common if linesmen try to give advantage to the host
players. At least, we have tried our best."
Lee and Yoo will face fourth seeds Jens Eriksen and Jesper
Larsen of Denmark, who ousted Britons Chris Hunt and Julian
Robertson 15-6, 15-6.
In another quarterfinals, hosts Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon
defeated Michael Lamp and Jonas Rasmussen 15-13, 15-7 to set up
an encounter with Danish pair of Michael Sogaard and Jim
Laugesen, who beat Malaysian scratch pair Choong Tan Fook and
Chan Chong Ming 15-5, 15-10. (yan)