Two finals berths for RI shuttlers in Manila tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Making amends for their poor results in the singles events, Indonesian shuttlers showed their domination in doubles by placing eight pairs in the semifinals of the US$150,000 JVC Asian Badminton Championships in Manila.

Four of the pairs, two in the men's doubles and another two in the mixed doubles, lined up an all-Indonesian affair, meaning that Indonesia has already secured a final berth in each of the events.

Men's doubles second stringers Hendra A. Gunawan and Alven Yulianto will take on their senior compatriots Bambang Suprianto and Tri Kusheryanto for a place in Sunday's final.

Hendra and Alven came from behind to defeat Hong Chieng Hun and Chang Kim of Malaysia 12-15, 15-11, 17-15 while Bambang and Tri were too powerful for Chinese Zheng Bo and Sang Yang, whom they beat with 15-5, 15-8.

Top seeds and Sydney Olympic gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan will battle for another final berth against China's unheralded partnership of Chen Rui and Wang Wei.

Candra and Tony defeated Japanese Norio Imai and Hiroshi Ohyama 15-7, 15-11, while the Chinese beat Malaysians Jeremy Gan and Ng Kean Kok 15-9, 17-14.

On paper, Candra and Tony are favored to land Indonesia's fifth men's doubles title in as many tournaments.

Indonesian pairs also dominated the mixed doubles event, having three pairs in contention for final berths.

Second seeds Bambang and Minarti Timur set a date with Indonesia Open winners Tri Kusheryanto and Emma Ermawati in one of the semifinal matches to be played on Saturday.

Tri and Emma outgunned Chien Yu Hsun and Cheng Wen Hsing 15-8, 15-9 and Bambang and Minarti stopped Chinese Zheng Bao and Zhang Yawen.

In the other semifinal, top seeds Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung- min of South Korea will face Indonesia's makeshift pair of Tony Gunawan and Vita Marissa.

Kim and Ra reached the semis after Njoto Susanto and Wang Chen of Hong Kong retired, with the Koreans taking the first set 15-7 and leading 5-2 in the second.

Tony and Vita beat Cheng Rui and Huang Sui of China 15-11, 15- 10.

Meanwhile, it will be a Chinese-Indonesian affair in the women's doubles semifinals.

Top seeds Gao Ling and Huang Sui of China are expected to face no difficulty in disposing of Indonesian second-stringers Eny Erlangga and Novita for a finals berth.

Gao and Huang had an easy 15-10, 15-0 win over Indonesia's Rossi Riani and Diah Novita in Friday's quarterfinals, which also saw Eny and Novita beat Japanese pair Shizuka Yamamoto and Seiko Yamada 15-10, 15-13.

Second seeds Deyana Lomban and Vita Marissa of Indonesia are likely to be engaged in a hard-fought match against Zhao Tingting and Zhang Yawen in the other semifinal.

Zhao and Zhang dropped the first game before overcoming Cheng and Chien 6-15, 15-5, 15-1. Meanwhile, Deyana and Vita came through an easier challenge, with a 15-2, 15-13 win over Japan's Megumi Oniike and Kaori Mori.

Junior shuttler Lin Dan of China cruised to the men's singles semifinals and will meet Shong Seung-mo of South Korea, while World Grand Prix champion Xia Xuanze will face Indonesian-born Indra Wijaya who is playing for Singapore.

It's China against Hong Kong in the women's singles, with top seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong playing Dong Fang and Chinese second seed Zhang Ning facing Ling Wan Ting. (nvn)