Maria, Lu Lan to face off in Japan Open quarters

Niken Prathivi ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 09/19/2008 11:55 AM  |  Sports

World No. 20 shuttler Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia will challenge top seed Lu Lan of China in a quarterfinal showdown for the US$200,000 Japan Open, a rematch of the Beijing Olympic Games semifinal last month.

The match will be a test for Indonesia's No. 1 Maria, that her victory over the more fancied Lu in Beijing was not a fluke.

Maria humbled the world No. 2 in front of her home crowd to win the Olympic bronze medal and left a tearful Lu exiting the arena.

The 23-year-old Indonesian ensured her quarterfinal slot after upsetting fifth seeded Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 18-21, 21-13, 21-6, in 46 minutes.

Playing with her typical composure, Maria dropped her first game but managed to bounce back later to turn the tables on the 2007 China Open champ in the next two games.

Maria's coach Marleve Maenaky said the quarterfinal match would be very tough for Maria.

"Maria should stay focused on her play," Marleve was quoted as saying by Antara.

Lu outclassed Kaori Imabeppu of Japan in a convincing 21-7, 21-8 victory to earn the quarterfinal ticket.

In men's singles, Indonesia's aces, Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Taufik Hidayat, extended their runs in the tournament after beating their opponents.

Sony, second seeded here, thrashed little-known Sairul Amar Ayob of Malaysia 21-8, 21-8. The 2007 world champion runner-up, Sony, will face veteran Muhammad Roslin Hashim of Malaysia in the quarterfinal match Friday. Roslin beat seventh seeded Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 21-17, 21-15.

Sony's senior, Taufik, also beat Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-10, 21-12 to grab a quarterfinal berth. The Athens Olympic gold medalist will take on another Danish shuttler, Joachim Persson, sixth seeded here, in the quarterfinal match.

Meanwhile, newly-crowned men's doubles duo Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia were still in their winning mode on Thursday after seeing off Korean pair Woo Choo Gun and Seong Yoo Yeon with 20-22, 21-18, 21-14.

The Beijing Olympic gold medalists will meet their junior compatriots Yonatan Suryatama Dasuki and Rian Sukmawan in the next round. Yonatan and Rian defeated Japan's duo Hiroyuki Endo and Kazushi Yamada 21-19, 21-15.

In mixed doubles, Beijing Olympic silver medalists Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir were too dominant for the Chinese pair, Sun Junjie and Tian Qing. Nova and Lilyana won 21-15, 21-13 and they will face fellow Flandy Limpele, who has a new partner Greysia Polii, in the quarterfinals.

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