RI third in junior badminton meet

RI third in junior badminton meet

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian young shuttlers had to settle for third place three
consecutive times after defeating Chinese Taipei 3-1 in the team
competition playoff at the World Junior Badminton Championships
in Richmond, Canada, on Sunday (Monday morning Jakarta time).

Meanwhile, defending champion China, which beat Indonesia in
the semifinals, landed the trophy with a 3-0 win over South Korea
in the finals.

The annual event uses play format identical to its senior
version of Sudirman Cup with a matchup comprising boys' singles
and doubles, girls' singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.

During the playoff, mixed doubles Mohamad Rizal and Greysia
Polii opened Indonesia's victory by defeating Chinese Taipei's
pair Lee Sheng-Mu and Cheng Shao-Chieh 15-13, 11-15, 15-13,
according to www.badmintonbc.com.

Tommy Sugiarto doubled the lead with a 8-15, 15-13, 15-12 win
over Chu Han-Cou in the boy's singles match.

In the girl's singles match, Francisca Ratnasari failed to
seal Indonesia's victory early as she lost 11-3, 11-9 to Cheng
Shao-Chieh.

Greysia Polii and Heny Budiman finally wrapped up the victory
after winning 15-8, 15-8 over Hsieh Pei Chen and Tsai Pei Ling in
the girls' doubles match.

Meanwhile, Chen Jin decided China's 3-0 victory over South
Korea with an easy 15-3, 15-9 win in the boys' singles match over
Lee Cheol-ho.

Previously, mixed doubles Shen Ye and Feng Chen won 15-6, 15-7
over Lee Yong-dae/Park Song-hee before girls' singles Jiang
Yanjiao made it a 2-0 lead by overcoming Jang Soo-young 13-10,
11-3.

For Indonesia, it appeared its third, third-place finish in a
row after tournaments in Guangzhou, China, and Petroria, South
Africa.

Indonesian team comprises six boys: Markus Wijanu, Ari Yuli
Wahyu, Mohamad Rizal, Ahmad Rivai, I Made Agung and Tommy
Sugiarto; and six girls: Greysia Polii, Heny Budiman, Francisca
Ratnasari, Nitya Krishinda, Wiwis Meliana and Yuan Kartika.

They scored a convincing 5-0 win over Canada and Russia in
group matches. They continued their winning streak with a 3-1
over Denmark in the sub-group match before succumbing to a 3-0
loss to China.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chief in charge
of development affairs Icuk Sugiarto praised the squad's
performance, saying the result had come to their expectation.

"It's a good achievement for our shuttlers given that they
don't have much international experience compared to their
Chinese opponents," Icuk told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The competition features young players from China, Chines
Taipei, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Peru,
Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, USA and Canada.

Play in individual category follows until Oct. 30.