Shuttler Sony out of China Open

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.