Sony against Bao in semifinals

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 06/21/2008 12:22 PM | Sports

Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro will have the chance to improve his record against China's Bao Chun Lai in the semifinal of the Djarum Indonesia Super Series badminton championship in Jakarta on Saturday.

In the quarterfinal matches on Friday, Sony booked a convincing win over Singapore's Ronald Susilo 21-15, 21-12. Bao Chunlai secured his place with a 21-12, 21-16 win over Poland's P. Wacha.

Sony attributed his victory over Susilo to "well-measured smashes" that wrecked his opponent's defense.

"I really enjoyed the game and had good timing and accuracy when sending smashes to him," he said after the match.

An all-Indonesian final may be on the cards with Simon Santoso also advancing to the semifinal round in which he will face Japan's Tago Kenichi.

However, Sony, who is ranked world number 7, expects to endure rough competition against Bao Chunlai.

"He is a strong rival. But I am ready to play against him and hopefully I can beat him," he said.

Saturday's match will be their sixth meeting, with the Chinese player holding the upper hand with five victories. But the Indonesian ace was victorious in their most recent meeting at the 2007 Wilson Swiss Super Series.

On his poor record against his opponent, Sony said: "We'll see on court. I will fight hard to win the game this time around".

Simon Santosa eased past Malaysia's Lee Tsuen Seng with 21-15, 21-16 to earn a semifinal encounter against Kenichi, who overcame Hong Kong's Ng Wei 21-16, 17-21, 21-14.

Hopes for an all-Indonesian final also abound in the mixed doubles division, with Vita Marissa/Flandi Limpele and Nova Widiyanto/Lilyana Natsir sailing through to the semifinals.

Vita/Flandi defeated Japan's Ohtsuka Tadashi/Suetsuna Satoko with 21-19, 21-14 and are now up against second seeds Gao Ling/Zheng Bo of China, who saw off hosts D. Fitriawan/Lita Nurlita 21-9, 21-9.

Top seeds Nova Widiyanto/Lilyana Natsir were dealt a scare by Yoo Seong Yeon/Kim Jung Min of South Korea, who took the opening game 21-17 before the Indonesians fought back to win the next two games, 21-17, 21-12.

Nova/Lilyana will face Denmark's T. Laybourn/K. Rytter who defeated Robert Blair/Imogen Bankier with 21-14, 21-17 in the quarterfinals.

Indonesia is also nurturing hopes for a triumph in the women's singles with Maria Kristin Yulianti marching on to the semifinals.

She stunned Hong Kong's Zhou Mi 21-17, 15-21, 21-16 and will take on second seed Zhang Ning, the 21-14-21-19 winner over Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand.

"She is a tough opponent," Maria said of her next opponent.

She is expected to struggle against Zhang Ning's powerful smashes and aggressive performance.

"But, I've got nothing to lose. I will be ready to exert my energy during the game and hopefully I can beat her," Maria, who lost to the Chinese player in their only meeting in last year's World Championships, said.

The other semifinal match will pit top seed Zhu Lin of China against third seed Pi Hongyan of France. Zhu Lin stopped defending champion Wang Chen, who had to pull out due to injury when leading the second game 6-2, after winning the first game 21-17.

Hongyan defeated Singapore's Xing Aiying 21-18, 18-21, 21-8.

Indonesia also has two pairs in the women's doubles but S. Irawati/Meiliana Jauhari and Vita Marissa/Lilyana Natsir will have to meet each other in the semifinals.

However, hopes were dashed in the men's doubles when Markis Kido/Hendra Gunawan went down to Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan. (ewd)

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