Tony heads RI shuttlers in Japan Open semifinals

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)