RI back, says elated Sony

RI back, says elated Sony

Agence France-Presse Athens

Sony Dwi Kuncoro said Indonesia was back on the badminton map following his 15-13, 15-4 quarterfinal win over South Korean Park Tae-sang in the Olympic men's singles.

The eighth seed's 15-13, 15-4 victory increased the possibility of an all-Indonesian final following unseeded compatriot Taufik Hidayat's defeat of Danish sixth seed Peter Gade earlier in the day.

Taufik chalked up a 15-12, 15-12 win over Danish sixth seed Peter Gade.

"This is proof that we are back on the map," said the 20-year- old, a quarterfinalist at the world championships.

"We came here as underdogs and we are proving a lot of people wrong."

Sony, the two-time Asian champion who lost to Taufik in this year's final, said he would not be satisfied unless he struck gold in Athens.

"I'll only be happy if I take gold, that is my objective," he said.

In Friday's semifinals, Kuncoro will play South Korean Shon Seung-mo, who knocked out Chinese number two seed Chen Hong, and Taufik will face Thailand's Ponsana Boonsak.

The last Indonesian to win gold in the men's singles at the Olympics was Alan Budi Kusuma at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

South Korean seventh seed Shon staged a thrilling comeback to defeat second seed Chen Hong in the quarterfinals which left China without a player in an event it was expected to dominate.

China took gold and bronze in the men's singles at the Sydney Games and with three of the top four seeds was tipped for a clean sweep of medals here.

But Chen's surprise exit completed a wipeout for the sport's standard-bearers that began on the first day when unseeded Singaporean Ronald Susilo knocked out top seed and world number one Lin Dan.

A semifinalist at the world championships last year, Shon started sluggishly against Chen but came storming back to beat the world number two 10-15, 15-4, 15-10.

Meanwhile, Asian champion Taufik continued to revel in his underdog role to claim a place the semifinals.

Ponsana secured a surprisingly straightforward win over Susilo, who was unable to reproduce his first round heroics and crashed to a 15-10, 15-1 defeat.

Quick at the net and precise with his smashes, Taufik, a quarterfinalist four years ago, had only beaten Gade once in their previous seven meetings.

But the 23-year-old Indonesian, who has a long history of tantrums and outbursts, showed he is slowly maturing with an accomplished display to oust the 27-year-old Sydney semifinalist.

Nervousness has often undermined Taufik's performances when he has faced Gade before, but not this time.

"Previously when I've played Peter I have felt anxious, but today, for some reason, I didn't," he said.

"I felt more mature out there and I kept reminding myself of what my coach has been telling me.

"He told me not to let go of any point and so I reached for every shot and didn't take too many risks.

"I was really determined to win and I felt strong throughout the whole match."

Asked what he had done differently to overcome Gade, he said: "Peter played his normal game, but unfortunately he is not getting any younger.

"This could be his last Olympics and I think the pressure of going all out for gold was a burden for him."

Gade, the former world number one, admitted he was outfoxed by Taufik.

"He was better than me on top of the net and that was crucial," said the Dane, runner-up at the All England Open earlier this year.

"His attacks were very strong and he made fewer mistakes.

"It's a shame because I have been in great form and really thought I had a chance to be among the medals. I have to accept the defeat, it's part of the game."

Friday's competition will also play the men's doubles matches in which Indonesian pair Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian will face Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea and Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard of Denmark will play unseeded South Korean's Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung.