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Sony closer to winning second title in a row
Musthofid , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 09/28/2008 10:02 AM | Sports
Sony Dwi Kuncoro ousted Chinese rival Bao Chunlai in the semifinals in Changzhou, China, on Saturday, keeping alive Indonesian bids for three titles in the US$250,000 China Masters badminton tournament.
Sony, seeded fifth in the tournament, brushed aside the third seed in little more than an hour in a three-game 21-13, 12-21, 21-15 thriller, according to www.tournamentsoftware.com.
The win denied the host's bid for the all-Chinese final in the men's singles and gave Sony the chance to score his second title in a row after triumphing at the Tokyo Open over the weekend.
The Indonesian shuttler will face Chen Jin, a 21-19, 21-18 winner over compatriot Li Yu, in the finals Sunday when Indonesia hopes for two other titles.
Indonesian finalists for Sunday's match program are top seeds Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in the men's doubles and top seeds Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir in the mixed doubles.
Both pairs secured their tickets at the expense of fellow Indonesians in the semifinals.
Kido and Hendra, the Olympic champions in Beijing in August, defeated Hendra Apriadi Gunawan and Joko Riyadi 21-13, 21-14, while Olympic silver medalists Nova and Liliyana avenged their Tokyo defeat by stopping Muhammad Rijal and Vita Marissa 17-21, 21-15, 21-12.
While those two rubbers had already assured Indonesian tickets for the finals, a place in the men's singles final hung in the balance with Sony rated lower than Bao, given their past record in which the former lost five times in seven meetings.
However, Sony managed to shatter the odds despite being forced to play in three games. After winning the opening game, he ended up struggling in the second, in which Bao -- who knocked Indonesian Taufik Hidayat out of the quarterfinals -- managed to win seven consecutive points for 18-10, according to the website's statistics.
The third game was closer with the two players taking turns at leading. However, after they were locked at 14 each, the Indonesian broke away to seal the game and the match.
"The key to victory is being confident against Bao's offense and vigilant against getting trapped into playing a fast game and rushing into attacks," team official Davis Efram was quoted by Antara as saying.
The tournament has been deprived of the world's top two players, with Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Lin Dan of China opting for a no-show.
The next challenge for Sony, who stunned Chong Wei in the Tokyo final, will be no less difficult, as he faces Chen Jin next. Sony only won once, back in 2004, while his next two matches went to the Chinese.
Nova and Liliyana also face a tricky challenge from Chinese rivals Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen, seeded third in the tournament, while Kido and Hendra will take on unseeded pair Sun Junjie and Xu Chen of China.
The other two final matches will pit Wang Lin of China against Zhou Mi of Hong Kong in the women's singles and Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei of China against Zhang Dan and Zhang Zhibo of Macau in the women's doubles.
