RI shuttlers maintain hopes in Asian Games

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea

Indonesia's badminton players maintained a firm determination to do better than in their male counterparts had done in the team event on Saturday, with an exception of the men's doubles event.

The dream of having an all-Indonesian final in the badminton men's doubles event was thwarted when only one of the two Indonesian pairs got through to the semifinals at the Gangseo Gymnasium in the Gangseo Sports Park.

Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto were unexpectedly defeated 15-8, 14-17, 5-15 by Malaysians Chan Choong Ming and Chew Choon Eng in their quarterfinals encounter.

But, an unexpected victory was enjoyed by another Indonesian pair, Halim Heryanto and Tri Kusharyanto, who might consider it to be sweet revenge against South Korean pair Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon, who defeated them in the team event.

The Indonesians won the first game 15-7 in an up-tempo encounter but slowed down in the second game and lost 8-15. They returned to their rapid-fire style in the third game and won 15- 8.

In the semifinals, Halim and Tri will face Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas of Thailand.

In the other semifinals, Malaysians Chan and Chew will face first seeds Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung.

A similar surprising defeat was suffered by mixed doubles pair Nova Widhianto and Vita Marissa, seeded second here, who lost 11- 5, 5-11, 5-11 to the Thai pair of Sudhisodhi Khunakorn and Thoungthongkam Saralee.

Also cruising through to the semifinals were Indonesian men's singles shuttlers. The semifinals matches will be a private affair between Taufik Hidayat and Hendrawan against hosts Shon Seung-mo and Lee Hyun-il respectively.

Taufik will personally be delighted if he can defeat Shon.

"I met him twice and always won. I'm not counting our match in the men's team final. Shon got a lot of help from the umpire and local linesmen," he said.

Taufik also said he would pull out of the match right away if similar irregularities happened again.

Malaysian Hashim Muhammad Hafiz was not a real challenge for Taufik as he enjoyed a quite easy 15-11, 15-5 victory.

Meanwhile, Shon outshone Indian star Pullela Gopichand 15-9, 15-11.

Hendrawan, on the other hand, had to fight hard before winning 12-15, 15-10, 15-4 against China's Xia Xuanze.

Lee Hyun-il also had to lose the first game before winning 12- 15, 15-9, 15-6 against Malaysian Wong Choong Han.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's hopes of reaping a second gold medal from tennis were dashed when Angelique Widjaja and Wynne Adiati Prakusya went down 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 3-5 to host pair Kim Mi-ok and Choi Young-ja.

"We should have won the gold medal as Angie and Wynne are the first seeds here," team manager Suharyadi told reporters after the match.

"But playing before the home crowd was a burden in itself. The tension was palpable, and it was all very different," he added.

Meanwhile, Angie could not hide her disappointment.

"Of course, I'm disappointed with the defeat. I was confident that I could win the match," Angie told reporters.