Non-seeded clubs fight hard for quarters tickets

By Novan Iman Santosa

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan (JP): The competition between non-Javan badminton clubs turned out to be fierce on the second day of the Inter-club National Badminton Championships as they all had to work hard to earn their victories.

Competing in the Hasanuddin HM Sport Hall, host South Kalimantan's Rajawali players survived a humiliating defeat after winning their game against Keshab of East Kalimantan 3-2 in group A.

Earlier, group B's favorite and fifth seed in the championship Surya Naga Gudang Garam of Surabaya was given a walkout victory when its opponent, the North Sulawesi team failed to show up before Tuesday's opening ceremony.

"We don't even know what club was being registered to represent North Sulawesi as it didn't show up until the last minute before the opening ceremony," PBSI's referee Julius Tetelepta told reporters on Wednesday.

"Even if they show up and meet Surya Naga today, it's still declared a no-contest."

Meanwhile, Kusuma of Klaten, Central Java, managed to defeat Pusri of Palembang, South Sumatra 3-2 in another group B match.

In group C, Surakarta-based PMS outclassed Bima of East Java 5-0 while in group D, Prima Danamon of South Sulawesi eliminated Central Kalimantan's Public Works Agency 5-0.

Bandung-based Mutiara Elvana, managed by former women's singles Ivana Lie, overwhelmed Singaraja of Bali 5-0 in their group E match. In the group's other match, Surabaya-based Dasa Digdaya beat Klinik Sekanak of Palembang 3-2.

Another home team Malindo managed to beat ICLI Gowata of Makassar, South Sulawesi, 3-2 in group F.

Seeded clubs of Bandung-based Sangkuriang Graha Sarana (SGS), Jakarta-based Jaya Raya and Tangkas and Djarum Kudus of Central Java had a day off.

The absence of top players from the clubs -- including Olympic gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan of Jaya Raya, men's singles world number two Taufik Hidayat of SGS, Olympics men's singles silver medalist Hendrawan of Tangkas and Olympics mixed doubles silver medalist Tri Kusherjanto of Surya Naga -- left most of the second-day matches with low attendance figures. Only about 700 spectators visited the 3,000-seat hall.

The organizers' secretary Rusmadi Noor said the free-of-charge round-robin match was less interesting because no national shuttlers performed on Wednesday.

He expressed optimism that the stadium would be a full-house for the semifinals and final on Friday and Saturday.

On Thursday, top seed Jaya Raya will play Rajawali in group A and Surya Naga will play Palembang's Pusri in group B. While SGS will face PMS in group C and Djarum will play Tirta Barito in group G.

In the Junior Individual Championships held at the Kuripan Sport Hall, Java-based shuttlers dominated most of the events only leaving little room for non-Java based colleagues.

In the men's singles, only Hanafi of South Sumatra managed to grab a place in the quarterfinals after defeating Abdul Huda of East Java 15-12, 15-3.

But on Thursday Hanafi will meet the more experienced Taufik Hidayat of Jakarta to secure a place in the semifinal. Earlier, Taufik beat Andika of West Java 15-6, 15-4.

Favorite Sonny Dwi Kuncoro -- finalist in the World Junior Championships in Guangzhou, China, and the Asian Junior Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, last year -- will be challenged by Anggun Nugroho of Jakarta.

A similar situation also occurred in the girls singles where Fitria Firdaus of South Sulawesi secured a place after beating Rintan of West Java 3-11, 11-9, 13-11 to meet Veronica of East Java in the quarters.