DJARUM Indonesia Open – Peter and Taufik to meet up in quarters

Gade and Hidayat are no strangers to the international circuit and have had many memorable clashes, their first being at the final of the YONEX All England Open Championships in 1999. Ten years later, these two great shuttlers – amongst the most attractive badminton personalities of the decade - are to meet in the quarters again – and no doubt the local hero – the 2004 Olympic Champion - will get the most support from the very passionate and noisy local crowds here in Jakarta.

Both players had a tough time confirming their spot in the quarter finals, facing two of last week’s heroes on Thursday in Jakarta’s Istora Senayan stadium.

The Dane had Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh for an opponent, and it was first the Vietnamese shuttler who took control of the rallies, winning the first game in a rather easily 21/13. Gade took the lead in the second game, by quite a margin, playing at a higher pace, but the Vietnamese shuttler was to fight all the way.

Leading 14/20, Nguyen was in no mood to let it go to the third game – and he caught back point after point to make it to 19/20 before the Dane was able to score on his 6^th game point to push for a decider. After last week’s performance and the energy spent to get back in the second, Nguyen was then falling short of energy in the third while Gade was clearly the controller of the court, winning 21/14.

“He is really a good fighter and I am struggling to let the good form out” said Gade.

Next on the road to the finals lies the home hero, Taufik Hidayat, who has clinched six titles already in this event. “I've never played Taufik here before and I'm pleased that I'm going to tomorrow. It will be a good match before the Worlds and I'm looking forward to it. He will be the favorite at home but I'll be fighting to the end” Gade added.

Taufik was clearly not so confident when he met last week’s runner up Boonsak Ponsana. “When I saw him play against Park on TV and then a little bit in the final, I thought to myself “oh my God, he is back ! I knew I had to be very careful and I was a bit afraid to play him” said the Indonesian.

But the home court support and an extra week of preparation helped Hidayat scoop his ticket for the next round after edging out the Thai 21/17 – 19/21 – 21/10.

“Now, I have to play Gade. I’m looking forward to meeting him. I had beaten him in England this year, but in spite of that win, I still think it’s a 50/50 chance game. We’ll see tomorrow” said the witty Indonesian.

Gade will be the only Dane left in the draw as Joachim Persson, seeded seventh was ousted by Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Kit, who has not had a very successful year to date, losing in all Super Series first rounds since the YONEX All England, where it was Persson who had beaten him quite easily. Chan will take on Sony Dwi Kuncoro, while the other side of the draws sees Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan one step away from the ideal semi final - Lin Dan beat Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yu Hsing in straight games and will meet Chen Jin, while Lee Chong Wei gave a game to his compatriot Hafiz Hashim before nailing it and scooping a quarter final berth against Park Sung Hwan, who upset Simon Santoso in the last match of the evening.

The Chinese women didn’t have to struggle much to get their tickets for the quarters – none of the opponents of the four top Chinese players scored more than 16 points in one game and none of Xie Xingfand, Wang Lin, Wang Yihan or Lu Lan had to play three games – not even the latter who had an easy match against former world champ Zhu Lin.

Wang Chen, however, just like Pi Hongyan last night, was shown the way out in spite of her fourth seeded spot. The Hong Kong player was stunned by Korea’s new jewel Hwang Hye Youn 21/19 – 14/21 – 21/14. The three others in the quarters are Saina Nehwal, but also two younger players : Japan’s Sato, who continued her good run after beating Zhou Mi – she outplayed the giant Kim Moon Hi of Korea, while Maria Febe Kusumati will be Indonesia’s only hope in the draw when she takes on Wang Lin.

The squad from Great Britain had some ups and downs on Thursday, with the outing of last week’s heroes Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson by local pair Luluk Hadiyanto and Joko Riyadi 21/16 – 24/22; leaving the whole men’s double draw to players from Asia – no upsets there even if Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong had to play overtime in their 16/21 – 21/14 - 22/20 victory over China’s Guo Zhengdong and Xu Chen.

Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork were then shown the exit by Korea’s Han and Jang, but fortunately for the Milton Keynes residents, Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier were to pull one of the surprises of the day, edging out Thailand’s best pair of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam. The match was uneven after a close first game battle won by the Europeans. The Thais took the second 21/11 before bowing out in the exact same score in the third, giving Blair and Bankier the opportunity to play the Olympic champions next as Lee and Lee qualified for the quarters, beating Koo and Ng in straight games.

“We’re very happy about our win today. We had been scolded by our coach Tan Kim Her for our poor recent results and this comes as one of the best results so far this year. It will boost our confidence for the next match “Blair said.

The Thais will be the only seeded missing from the quarter finals which should give some appealing confrontations on Friday evening, with local heroes Nova Widianto and Lyliana Natsir still hoping for success on home soil.

Last month, in Beijing, World’s number one Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty had been given a lesson in badminton by Korea’s Olympic silver medalists Lee Kyong Won and Lee Hyo Jung. They’ll have a shot at revenge on Friday in an environment similar to their every day training conditions.

The Malaysians will play the Koreans in the top quarter final of the women’s doubles event after beating India’s new pair of Gutta/Ponnapa.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 12:23 PM. Filed under Indonesia Open, News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0