Nova/Vita in Dutch Open badminton

JAKARTA (JP): The mixed doubles team of Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa led Indonesian players to the next round at the Dutch Open badminton championships with a surprising win on Friday, as reported by satunet.com online news provider.

Nova and Vita, the only surviving Indonesian mixed team left in the draw, beat top seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-6, 15-13 for a place in the semifinals.

British pair, Simon Archer and Van den Heuvel now stand between the unseeded Indonesians and making history. The national second stringers have never gone past the semifinals.

Vand den Heuvel is Archer's new partner. He used to play with Joanne Gode. The couple beat China's Deng Chuanhai and Jiang Xuelien 15-7, 15-9.

Indonesia's best bet in the men's singles, Budi Santoso, also made it to the semifinals with a come-from-behind 16-17, 15-5, 15-6 win over top seed Richard Vaughan of Wales. Budi will next meet Chen Hong of China.

Budi's teammate Johan Hadi Kusuma had a reversal of fortune as he was forced to pull out of his quarterfinal match against Malaysia's Roslin Hashim. Johan was one set down and trailing 9- 12 when he complained about an injury.

Another defeat befell Indonesian women's doubles pair, Indarti Isolina and Vita Marissa, the 1-15, 6-15 losers to Mette Schjoldager and Ann Jorgensen of Denmark.

Indonesia's other men's doubles, Sigit Budiarto and Halim Heryanto, beat Dennis Lens/Van Dalm of the Netherlands 17-14, 15- 6.

In the women's singles, Zhang Ning of China beat Danish Metter Sorrensen 11-2, 11-7 to secure a place in the semifinals.

The world badminton grand prix series will move to Denmark, which will host the Danish Open from Oct. 24 through Oct. 29.

Indonesian players will also take part in the Asian Badminton Championship in November. (nvn)