Tony heads RI shuttlers in Japan Open semifinals

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's doubles and mixed doubles shuttlers continued their advance at the US$180,000 Japan Open, winning their quarterfinal matches on Friday at Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo.

In the men's doubles, All England champions Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto of Indonesia, seeded fifth here, sent home the top-seeded Danish duo of Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen 15-11, 15-9.

Their victory set up a duel with the Danish duo of Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske, who sweated out a 15-12, 15-13 victory over Liu Yong and Chen Qiqiu of China.

In another semifinal match, 1997 World Champions Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto of Indonesia will meet Malaysia's rising duo of Chew Choon Eng and Chan Chong Ming.

Candra and Sigit crushed Ma Che-kong and Yau Kwun-yuen of Hong Kong 15-9, 15-11 in the quarters, while Chew and Chan, seeded eighth, were hard-pressed to squeeze out a 15-10, 13-15, 15-8 win over Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun of China.

Indonesian men's doubles coach Herry Imam Pierngadi said by phone from Tokyo he was optimistic his shuttlers would be able to set up an all-Indonesian finals, as was the case at last month's All England.

"I believe my shuttlers will play well. What is important is that they are consistent from the beginning.

"Both pairs played really well today, particularly Tony and Halim, who were forced by their opponents from Hong Kong to work hard on the court," he said.

Herry said Candra and Sigit must be wary of Chew and Chan, who have been in good form over the last two months.

"Although they are technically better and more experienced (than the Malaysians), they cannot afford to lose their grip during the match. It could boomerang on them."

In the mixed doubles, the veteran Indonesian duo of Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur upset the second-seeded Danish duo of Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager 7-15, 15-5, 15-5. The Indonesians will now face the third-seeded Chinese pair of Zhang Jun and Gao Ling, who ousted Chien Yu-hsiun and Cheng Wen-hsin of Chinese Taipei 15-7, 15-5 in the quarterfinals.

The inexperienced Indonesian pair of Nova Widhianto and Vita Marissa survived a tough battle with Zhang Wei and Huang Sui of China, winning 15-5, 11-15, 15-4. They will next meet another Chinese duo, Liu Yong and Cheng Jiao, who defeated Indonesians Tri Kusheryanto and Indarti Issoliana 15-10, 15-4.

Indonesian mixed doubles coach Yanti Kusmiati said by phone that Indarti was still having trouble adjusting to playing with Tri, as a result the Indonesian's were unable to force long rallies against the Chinese.

"Tomorrow, Nova and Vita must force long rallies because Cheng is very aggressive and the Chinese have good defense. As for Minarti and Bambang, together they have never met Zhang and Gao, though Minarti faced them in the 2000 Sydney Olympics final.

In the men's singles, sixth seeded Chen Hong of China scored the biggest upset of the day, squashing top seed and defending champion Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark 15-11, 7-15, 15-7.

Chen will next face Lee Hyun-il of South Korea, who crushed Malaysian old hand Ong Ewe Hock 15-12, 15-8.

The second seeded Roslin Hashim of Malaysia reached the semifinals after ousting Danish seventh-seed Anders Boesen 15-10, 15-4. Hashim is scheduled to meet unseeded Shon Seung-mo of South Korea, who had an easy 15-4, 7-1 win over Colin Haughton of England, who retired in the second game.

As usual, the Chinese are dominating the women's side, with three players in both the singles and doubles semifinals. (yan)