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Taufik crashes, Sony cruises at China Masters
Niken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta ,
The loss was the Indonesian's sixth in nine matches.
Fifth seed Sony, who triumphed at Japan Open last week, overcame Chinese Qiu Yanbo 21-15, 21-10, to secure a place in the semifinals against Bao. The Chinese holds the upper hand in head-to-head records, winning five times in seven matches.
Sony's victories came from the Indonesian Super Series in 2008 and Wilson Swiss Open Super Series in 2007.
The other semifinal will be an all-Chinese affair with Li Yu taking on Chen Jin.
In the men's doubles, Indonesia had four pairs in competition. Two marched to the next stage. But one will have to make way for the other as they face each other in the semifinals.
Muhammad Ahsan and Bona Septano, who were beaten finalists in Tokyo last week, lost to their fellow Indonesians, world No. 1 pair Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, 21-17, 21-18.
Yonatan Suryatama Dasuki and Rian Sukmawan lost to home pair Sun Junjie and Xu Chen 21-12, 18-21, 21-13.
On Saturday, Markis and Hendra will fight against fellow Indonesians Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Joko Riyadi, who secured their semifinal ticket by beating Malaysian pair Khoo Chung Chiat and Tan Bin Shen 21-15, 21-13.
Surprise winners in Japan Open, Muhammad Rijal and Vita Marissa, who were only paired recently, progressed to the mixed doubles semifinals after struggling past fourth seed Sudket Parapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand 18-21, 21-12, 21-15.
But Indonesian new pair Flandy Limpele and Greysia Polii, who were seeded fifth, were forced to abandon their bid after their loss to home pair He Hanbin and Yu Yang 21-12, 24-22.
Rijal and Vita will meet hard-hitting compatriots Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir, who defeated Shen Ye and Pan Pan 21-18, 14-21, 21-9 of China.
Vita Marissa and Liliyana Natsir paired in the doubles but they were stopped by Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei of China 21-19, 10-21, 21-11 loss.
