Two Indonesian pairs move into finals, Hendrawan survives

By Primastuti Handayani

SYDNEY (JP): Hendrawan kept Indonesia's hopes of winning the badminton men's singles title in the 2000 Olympic Games alive after he edged out world champion Sun Jun of China 15-13, 15-5 on Wednesday for a place in the semifinals.

The win made up for the shock defeat of top seed Taufik Hidayat, who was sent packing by Chinese Ji Xinpeng 12-15, 5-15 in another quarterfinal.

Indonesia's other player in the men's singles quarterfinals, Marlev Mainaky, bowed out to third seed Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark 6-15, 6-15.

Indonesia still has a chance to win gold medals in the men's doubles and mixed doubles with world number one pair Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan and the duo Tri Kusharjanto and Minarti Timur respectively.

Candra and Tony disposed of world champions Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea 15-13, 15-10, a sweet revenge for their defeat in the World Championships quarterfinals last year.

Mixed doubles top seeds Tri and Minarti came from one set and 1-10 down to deny Simon Archer and Joanne Goode of England the gold medal with a 2-15, 17-15, 15-11 win.

The 28-year-old Hendrawan had a close match in the first game with both shuttlers on 9-9. Sun took the lead 13-10 before a cool Hendrawan overhauled the Chinese player by winning five straight points to close the set.

In the second game, the Indonesian raced to a 10-0 lead before Sun offered a late fightback, which was never enough to stop Hendrawan from victory.

"I am not distracted by the defeats suffered by my friends because I have had good preparation. I am very confident with my physical condition and I won't have any problems playing long rallies or rubber sets," he said after the match.

Chinese head coach Li Yongbo said although Sun has recovered from the ankle injury he suffered during the Thomas Cup qualification in New Delhi in February, his physical condition has yet to reach its best form.

"Hopefully, our young players will be able to take the gold medal back home," said the former doubles shuttler.

Hendrawan will meet All England winner Xia Xuanze of China, who defeated Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia 17-15, 15-9. Another semifinals will feature Gade Christensen against Ji.

While Taufik, who declined to show up at the press conference, told Indonesian reporters that he was already fed up with the Olympic atmosphere.

"We have been staying here for quite sometime and it makes me feel tired, not physically but mentally," said the 19-year-old player.

In the men's doubles, Tony and Candra played confidently against Kim and Ha in the see-saw match lasting 31 minutes. Both teams were locked at 12-12 in the first set before Tony and Candra stepped up attacks to seal the game.

In the second game, Tony and Candra led 12-5 thanks to unforced errors made by the Koreans. But the Indonesians, aiming to retain the men's doubles gold medal, concluded the match 15- 10.

Indonesia won its sole gold in 1996 thanks to men's duo Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky.

"Competing in the Olympics does not require technical skills as much as mental readiness. We must be prepared and aggressive in our playing and never allow our contenders to take control," Tony said.

Lee and Yoo buried Malaysia's dream to repeat the success of 1996 by reaching the final. Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah had to bow out to Lee and Yoo 12-15, 15-7, 4-15.

However, it was Tri and Minarti, who will retire after the Olympics, who stole the show.

"We simply focused on avoiding unnecessary mistakes when we were down in the second game. When we trailed 8-12, we played more relaxed and set up a new strategy," Tri said.

Tri and Minarti will meet Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China, who beat Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 10-15, 15-6, 17- 16.

"We won twice against the Chinese in the Japan and Malaysia Open this year. But we don't want to be over confident," Tri added.

The men's and mixed doubles finals will take place Thursday.