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.