Taufik, Sony march on All England quarters

Damar Harsanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 03/08/2008 12:42 AM  |  Headlines

Indonesian shuttlers rolled into the quarterfinals of the US$200,000 All England Super Series badminton championships in Birmingham, England, including aces Taufik Hidayat and Sony Dwi Kuncoro.

Taufik, an Olympic gold medalist and seventh seed here, survived a scare by Vietnam's No. 1 Nguyen Tien Minh before pulling out a hard-fought 21-17, 15-21, 21-19 victory late Thursday evening.

The 2004 world champion, who is seeking his first title at badminton's oldest event, will play second seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the quarterfinals. Lee eased past Indonesian junior Tommy Sugiarto 21-18, 21-11.

Taufik and Lee have split their eight career meetings, with Lee taking their last meeting in the Japan Super Series in September last year.

Taufik's compatriot Sony Dwi Kuncoro also triumphed in a tight match, beating Japan's Shoji Sato 11-21, 21-12, 21-9 in the third round.

The 2007 world champion runner-up, sixth seeded here, will take on fourth seed Chen Jin of China in the quarterfinals.

Other Indonesian shuttlers advancing to the quarterfinals were mixed doubles pair Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, men's doubles veterans Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto Chandra, and women's doubles Jo Novita and Greysia Polii.

Nova and Lilyana, who claimed their second world championship title last year, got past Danish pair Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Juhl 17-21, 21-17, 21-14 to earn a quarterfinal spot.

The second seeded pair will meet fifth seeded He Han Bin and Yu Yang of China late Friday. The Chinese shuttlers made the quarters by beating Keita Matsuda and Miyuki Maeda 21-14, 21-8.

Veterans Luluk and Alvent relish the chance to end their title drought after beating Danish Anders Kristiansen and Simon Mollyhus in a convincing 21-8, 21-15 showing.

The 2006 Asian Games runners-up and world No. 8 can expect a tough battle from the evergreen Malaysian pair Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah, seeded fourth here.

The two pairings have met nine times in the past, with the Indonesians winning the last encounter in the China Super Series in July last year. However, the Malaysians hold an overall 5-4 lead.

In the women's doubles, Jo Novita and Greysia Polii sent Korean pair Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung packing in a convincing 21-13, 21-15 win.

The Indonesians will face a major hurdle in the quarterfinals, where they will meet top seeded and world No. 1 Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen.

Several Indonesian shuttlers crashed out of the event Thursday.

Candra Wijaya, who teamed up with Tony Gunawan, now representing the U.S., in the men's doubles, fell to the Korean pair Lee Jae Jin and Hwang Ji Man 21-9, 21-17.

Another men's doubles pair, Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Joko Riyadi, lost to Japan's Shuichi Sakamoto and Shintaro Ikeda 21-19, 19-21, 21-19.

In the women's doubles, Nitya Krishinda and Lita Nurlita were outclassed by veterans Gao Ling and Zhao Tingting of China 21-15, 21-16, while Lilyana Natsir and Vita Marissa fell to a pair from Chinese Taipei, Chien Yu Chin and Chen Wen Hsing, 21-19, 21-17.

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