NZ's Olympic qualifiers exit Jakarta Open

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten-Petersen, who will represent New Zealand in the badminton competition at the Olympic Games, lost to Unang and Angeline of Indonesia in the quarterfinal mixed doubles match at the Jakarta Open here on Saturday.

The Kiwi pair won the first game at 15-12 but seemingly lost their focus in the rest of the game with error-prone play on the net.

They were beaten 14-17, 7-15 in the remaining two games.

"It was very disappointing because we won the first game and we were already leading by a match point in the second game but we lost the game," Petersen said.

"I got tired, I wasn't moving much during the game, we did not play positive and we lost our confidence. It's a different condition (playing here) and the players have a different style," she said.

Shirley and Petersen said that their participation at the Jakarta Open was part of their preparation for the 2004 Malaysia Open to be held in Kuantan, Pahang starting on June 29.

"It's annoying that we lost just before the Malaysian Open but I think it's a good chance for us to learn more from our experience," Petersen said.

New Zealand was one of four foreign countries taking part in the Rp 30 million tournament, which featured around 1,000 players. The other three are Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland.

The tournament, which has four age categories, enters the semifinals and finals on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat is to play against Lok Chong Chieh of Malaysia while Sony Dwi Kuncoro will have to wait for a qualifier in the opening matches of the Malaysian Open, which begins June 29 in Kuala Lumpur.

In the doubles, Sigit Budiarto and Tri Kusharjanto will be challenged by Sudket Prapakamol and Patapol Ngernrisuk of Thailand.

Flandy Limpele and Candra Wijaya will team up to face a tough match against Malaysian pair Choong Tan Fuk and Lee Wan Wah. Eng Hian, Flandy's regular partner decided to skip the tournament.

The other Indonesian pair Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto will play against Gan Taik Chai and Koo Kien Keat of Malaysia.

Indonesia is fielding 17 players in five events in the Malaysian Open, which will be their last warmup tournament before the Olympic Games in Athens in August.