Top junior seeds cruise into semis

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."