Young Chinese shuttler beats Ardy in U.S. Open
Young Chinese shuttler beats Ardy in U.S. Open
ATLANTA, Georgia (Agencies): Ardy Wiranata may have to prepare himself for his second Olympic agony what with crashing to defeat at the hands of Chinese young gun Dong Jiong in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open badminton championships on Friday.
Top seed Ardy, Indonesia's world number two, displayed a stubborn defense, but could come up with a quick attacking game like that employed by the towering Dong, who went on for a classy 15-7, 15-5 win.
Giant killer Dong, who has included almost all of world's best players among his victims, is seeking his first major title of the year. And the odds look to favor him when he plays Dutchman Jeroen van Dijk in the semifinals.
Ardy's defeat capped Indonesia's misery at the Olympic badminton prelude. It now has only Hermawan Susanto left in the singles competition. And even though Hermawan showed consistent pressure to overcome Kim Hak-kyun in straight sets 15-6, 15-6, another victory is no sure thing.
Marleve Mainaky, one among Indonesia's male trio at the tournament, was bundled out earlier in the third round.
Indonesia's two ace women's singles players, Mia Audina and Yuliani Sentosa, also tumbled in the early rounds.
Ardy took the Olympic silver medal in 1992 after a bitter loss to compatriot Alan Budikusuma.
Alan and his Olympic fiance Susi Susanti and the world men's singles number one Hariyanto Arbi were major absentees at the event staged at the University of Georgia's indoor stadium, the venue for badminton competition during the Olympic Games.
Hermawan, who won his only title of the year in Taipei last January, will now try to save his team from blushing further when he faces another South Korean Ahn Jae-chang for a place in today's final.
In the women's division, two top seeds, Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea and Ye Zhaoying of China, moved closer to setting up a final showdown.
Bang made it into the semifinals after demolishing Huang Chia Chi of Chinese Taipei 11-1, 11-3, and will play an Asian Games final rerun against Japan's Hisako Mizui.
World champion Ye, second seed here, meets South Korea's Kim Ji-hyun in the other semifinal. Ye survived a thrilling match against another South Korean Ra Kyung-min 11-6, 8-11, 11-3. Kim dispatched Japan's Tatako Ida, who conquered Mia in the third round, with an easy 11-6, 11-1 win. (amd)