Sony tumbles out as Taufik on course for first title

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

Indonesian hopeful Sony Dwi Kuncoro crashed out of the US$170,000 Indonesia Open badminton championships on Thursday, leaving Taufik Hidayat the only local contender for the men's singles title at the tournament.

Asian champion Sony lost to South Korean Lee Hyun-il 15-4, 17- 15 in the third round, which saw the Indonesian turn in a poor start that caused him to trail 0-12 early in the match,

With the support of home fans inside the near-full 4,000- capacity Tumenggung Abdul Jamal Sports Hall, Sony raised his game in the second round, making the match tighter with points being closely fought.

It was Sony's slip-up in concentration during critical points that cost the Indonesian a quarterfinal berth.

"I couldn't find my playing rhythm in the first set. In the second, I was a bit impatient by rushing the shuttlecock over the net. I meant to take a point from that. Instead, it just fell weakly back on my side of the court," he said.

The result was a setback for Sony who last year reached the quarterfinals.

Sony's exit left Taufik the only Indonesian hopeful in the singles competition. The defending champion, seeking his first title of the season, displayed some impressive play in his convincing 15-4, 15-6 rout of Chinese Bao Chun Lai.

Bao, who had his knee heavily taped, put his defeat down to lack of preparation compared to Taufik's.

Through an interpreter, the Chinese said Taufik had prepared well and it helped that he opted out of the Singapore Open, where Bao was stopped by compatriot Lin Dan in the quarterfinals.

Lin's march at the Indonesia Open was halted earlier than he would have liked, losing 9-15, 15-3, 11-15 to Shon Mo-seung of South Korea. The Chinese team, however, still has two players in the quarters, Chen Hong and Wu Yunyong.

Chen, fresh off his Singapore Open title, defeated Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 15-9, 15-10 while Wu beat another Malaysian, Lee Chong Wei, 15-5, 15-9.

Chen will face Ronald Susilo of Singapore in the quarterfinals on Friday. Susilo booked his quarterfinal ticket with a hard- fought 6-15, 15-12, 15-11 win over 2003 All England champion Hafiz Hashim.

Wu will take on Shon Mo-seung. The other quarterfinal matches pit Taufik against Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia, a 15-9, 15-2 winner over Agus Haryanto of Hong Kong, and Lee Hyun-il against Hong Kong's Wei Ng, who posted a 15-13, 15-13 win over Boonsak Polsana of Thailand.

China, as expected, dominated the women's singles with four of its players all cruising to the quarterfinals.

Xie Xingfang and defending champion Gong Ruina will be seeking another all-Chinese semifinal when both take to the court on Friday against Tracey Hallam of England and Yonekura Kanako of Japan respectively.

Zhang Ning and Zhou Mi will have to tackle each other to win a ticket against either Wang Chen of Hong Kong or Pi Hongyan of France.

In the mixed doubles, Indonesia still has its hopes in Nova Widhianto and Vita Marissa. The pair held off Lee Jae-jin/Hwang Yu-mi 15-6, 15-8 and will be paired against another Korean pairing of world champions Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min.

Meanwhile, Sigit Budiarto and Tri Kusharjanto have not yet lived up to their potential as it is their first tournament as a pair. They were stopped by Chew Choon Eng/Chen Chong Ming of Malaysia 15-13, 15-7.

The women's doubles have also left the home crowd without hope after the defeats of Eny Erlangga/Lilyana Natsiar, 15-4, 15-4 to Chinese Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting, and Jo Novita/Lita Nurlita, 15-5, 15-6 to Chinese Gao Ling/Huang Sui.

In the men's doubles Indonesia's Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto surprised their veteran compatriots Flandy Limpele/Eng Hian with a 15-8, 8-15, 15-9 win. Candra Wijaya/Halim Haryanto also cruised to the quarterfinals, outlasting Cheng Rui/Chen Qiqiu of China 15-10, 11-15, 15-8.