Shuttler Sony out of China Open
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Olympic bronze medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro has exited the US$250,000 China Open badminton championship in Guangzhou, after losing 17-15, 15-4 late Thursday to unseeded home player Li Yu in the third round of the men's singles.
Fourth-seeded Sony, who has not grabbed a single title this year, swallowed a bitter defeat after having vowed to do whatever it took to win the tournament.
Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chief of development affairs Icuk Sugiarto expressed his disappointment over Sony's early exit.
"I feel disappointed ... I had expected Sony would get further, but I guess this is a phase every shuttler must go through. Every athlete should taste sweet victory and bitter defeat," Icuk told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Junior men's pair Hendra Setiawan/Markis Kidho also suffered a defeat of 15-1, 15-2 at the hands of Malaysian makeshift pair Chew Choon-Eng/Choong Tan-Fook.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat passed smoothly to the quarterfinals after defeating China's Wu Yunyong 15-10, 15-11.
Taufik will meet rising Chinese star Gong Weijie in the quarterfinal match, after Gong surpassed Denmark's top shuttler Peter Gade Christensen in a second-round surprise victory.
Former world champions Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto, who were recently reunited, did not have much trouble in defeating Korean pair Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jung-young 15-0, 15-3.
Candra/Sigit are expected to play against another Korean pair, Jung Jae-sung/Lee Jae-jin, in round three.
The makeshift mixed doubles pairs Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir and Anggun Nugroho/Yunita Tetty have advanced to the semifinals against expectations.
Nova, who is usually partnered with Vita Marissa, won 17-14, 4-15, 15-6 with Lilyana against sixth-seeded pair Zhang Jun/Gao Ling in the quarterfinals, while Anggun/Yunita grabbed a 15-7, 10-15, 15-4 victory over Denmark's Carsten Mogensen/Rikke Olsen.
Nova/Lilyana is scheduled to play against third-seed Danish pair Jens Eriksen/Mette Schjoldager, while compatriots Anggun/Yunita will face a tough challenge from world number two Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting of China in the semifinals.