RI secures three titles at Milo junior tournament
RI secures three titles at Milo junior tournament
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
The host team was assured of three titles at the Milo Junior
Indonesia Open badminton championships after the semifinal
matches at the Among Rogo Sports Hall in Yogyakarta on Friday.
Alamsyah will face Hendri in the boys' singles final. Yoga
Ukikasah/Ujang Suherlan will meet Alroy Tanama Putra/M. Rizal for
the boys' doubles title while M. Rizal/Greysia Polii will take on
Ujang Suherlan/Heni Budiman in the mixed doubles.
The hosts also have hopes to add two titles after Firdasari
Adrianti cruised to the girls' singles final and Heni
Budiman/Greysia Polii to the girls' doubles final.
Alamsyah came back from a set down to beat Lee Cheol-ho 13-15,
15-7, 15-7 in the semifinals on Friday while Hendri dispatched
fellow Indonesian Roy Purnomo in a hard-fought match. last year's
semifinalist Roy retired due to a cramp on his right knee as he
was trailing 13-15, 15-11, 11-13.
Alamsyah's win over Lee rounded off his domination over his
Korean opponents, having already stopped another two en route to
the semifinals. He beat Yoo Yeon-seong in the third round and
Hwang Jung-woon in the quarterfinals.
Although he was extended to three sets against Lee, Alamsyah
picked Hwang, whom he beat 17-15, 15-8, as his toughest
adversary.
"He pushed me into every corner with his cunning shots," said
the 17-year-old, who had a brief spell in Tokyo last year.
Against Lee, Alamsyah admitted to being bewildered by the
Korean's tactical play at the start, which cost him the opening
set.
"I was also too hasty," he said. He raised his game in the
following two sets to seal victory.
On the other court, Roy was leading 11-3 in the second set
over Hendri before the former limped round to let his opponent
catch up with him.
"I had already felt the pain since my game with Hong Kong
(player Chan Yan Kit)," said Roy. Trailing 11-13, he collapsed,
handing the victory to Hendri.
In the doubles event, the host players also foiled the Korean
bid of breaking into the finals when Yoga Ukikasah/Ujang Suherlan
held off an attack from Jung Hoon-min/Sho Min-young with a 15-12,
12-15, 15-7 victory.
Yoga/Ujang will meet Alroy Tanama Putra/M. Rizal, the 15-13,
15-11 victors over fellow Indonesians Fran Kurniawan/Chandra.
Indonesian domination over the Koreans had already begun early
in the day with M. Rizal/Greysia Polii and Ujang Suherlan/Heni
Budiman booking their final places at the expense of Yoo Yeon-
seong/Oh Seul-ki 15-6, 15-7 Hoon Min-young/Ha Jun-eun, 15-5, 12-
15, 15-5 respectively.
However, the Indonesian juniors failed to do the sweep in the
girls' singles as Maria Kristin fell to Ha Jeung-eun 11-3, 4-11,
11-4 in the girls' singles. Ha will face defending champion
Firdasari Adrianti, who ran past Siti Mahiroh 11-4, 11-2.
The girls' doubles final will pit Indonesians Heni
Budiman/Greysia Polii against Koreans Ha Jun-eun/Oh Seul-ki.
Heni/Greysia defeated fellow Indonesians Pia Zebadiah/Nitya
Krishinda 15-12, 15-9 while Ha/Oh buried Thailand's only hopes
with a 15-7, 15-10 over Amnuay Vathu Wangthira/Thienrajkit/Benjaporn.