Top junior seeds cruise into semis
By Novan Iman Santosa
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Indonesia's top boy's shuttlers sailed into the semifinals of the Milo Junior Indonesia Open at the Bhinneka sports hall on Thursday.
Top seed Sony Dwi Santoso of the Indonesian Badminton Center (PBI) barely broke a sweat in defeating Suherlan of West Java 15- 2, 15-5 in the quarterfinals. Sony will now meet fellow PBI shuttler Markis Kido.
"I never underestimate my opponents. I just try to do my best," Sony said after the match. "I have met Markis about 10 times and I have won most of the matches. As for Friday, we have to see what happens on the court."
In contrast to Sony, Markis had to struggle for more than one hour to defeat Andika Pradana Wicaksana of West Java 15-13, 13- 15, 15-4.
Markis had the better of the action in the first game but Andika refused to quit, sacrificing his body by diving to the floor several times to return the shuttlecock.
Both players were exhausted by the second game, but they continued to engage in long rallies to the entertainment of the crowd. Andika took the second game after Markis made several unforced errors on critical points.
The third game saw Markis totally control the action to seal the victory.
Second seed Ardiansyah of PBI overpowered Roy Purnomo Kurniawan of Djarum Kudus 15-5, 15-8 to earn the right to face Andre, another Djarum shuttler.
Andre advanced to the semifinals despite losing the first game of his match. He was able to keep his focus and post a 10-15, 15- 12, 15-5 win over Joko Riyadi of Jakarta-based Jaya Raya in another crowd-pleasing game.
Girl's singles top seed Dewi Tira of PBI defeated Marissa of Jakarta-based Tangkas Bogasari 11-8, 13-11 in a hotly contested contest.
Dewi played safe in the first game for a comfortable win. In the second game, she jumped out to a 10-4 lead before Marissa bounced back to tie things up at 10-10. But experience proved the difference, and Dewi was able to seal the match.
"I don't know what happened to me in the second game when Marissa managed to tie the score. I started to feel shaky when she kept scoring. I also let my guard down, I guess," Dewi told The Jakarta Post after the match.
"I guess I was too eager to finish the match quickly. I have to be more patient in my next match. But I think my game is improving now."
Dewi's next opponent will be Lilyana Natsir of Tangkas, who defeated Maria Elvira of PBI 11-4, 2-11, 9-11 in the quarterfinals.
Second seed Silvi Antarini of PBI defeated Fransiska Ratnasari of Jaya Raya 11-6, 11-9 in a tight match.
Fransiska took an 8-0 lead in the second game and looked certain to force a third game. But Silvi dug into her reserves and when on an 11-1 run to win the game.
Silvi will now face teammate Ricasari, who defeated 2001 Junior National Championships runner-up Maria Kristin of Djarum Kudus 11-8, 5-11, 11-7.
The girl's doubles pair of Monica and Lita Nurlita of PBI bested Heny Budiman and Greysia Polii of Jaya Raya 15-2, 15-5. Monica and Lita will now see the Japanese duo of Ikue Tatani and Ai Gotoh.
Tatani and Gotoh defeated Siti Mahiroh and Dara Aprillya Prameswarie of Jaya Raya 15-5, 15-7 in a spirited match.
The Japanese shuttlers were a crowd favorite with their high- pitched yells throughout the match.
However, Japanese manager Takechika Kudo told the Post the pair would not be around for Friday's semifinals because they had to return home.
"We are going to walk out as we have a plane to catch. I can't change the flight date as I have very cheap tickets provided by the Nippon Badminton Federation," he said.
"My players are high school students and they have to return to their studies soon."