Indonesia’s world number three and third-seed men’s doubles of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan failed to secure a spot in the final of the All England Open Badminton Super Series in Birmingham, after being beaten in the semifinal on Saturday evening.
Markis/Hendra surrendered to Danish pair Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen 14-21 21-13 23-21.
Denmark’s former world champion pair had upset the Indonesian duo’s toughest rivals, world number one and first-seed Malaysians Koo Kean Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the first round.
Markis and Hendra booked their place in the Saturday’s semifinals after beating eighth-seed Malaysian pair Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah 21-17, 21-11 on Friday, while Paaske and Rasmussen showed the exit for another Malaysian pair, Gan Teik Chai and Tan Bin Shen in straight sets 21-18 22-20.
With Markis/Hendra losing, Indonesia’s title hope now relies solely on the current world number one and second-seed mixed doubles pair of Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, who will meet perennial South Korean rivals, world number two and third-seed Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung, in the semifinal later in the evening.
“Nova and Lilyana’s track record against them is not good. However, we should be able to take advantage of Hyo Jung’s weaker performance,” Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) head coach Christian Hadinata told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, prior to the match.
Age is a factor not only for 29-year-old Hyo Jung, but also for Nova himself, who will turn 33 in October.
“As reigning Olympic champions, the South Korean pair faces much more pressure than our pair,” Christian said.
Nova and Lilyana were silver medalists at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Nova and Lilyana advanced after beating English pair Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork 21-18 21-19, while Yong Dae and Hyo Jung defeated English pair Anthony Clark and Heather Olver 21-19 21-17.
Securing a ticket to the final will mean meeting either defending champion fourth-seed He Hanbin and Yu Yang or Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, both pairs from China. Zhang and Zhao sent Indonesia’s eighth-seed Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa packing after a 21-16 21-18 rout in the quarterfinals.
Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii became Indonesia’s only representatives in the women’s doubles to reach the quarterfinals, where they were stopped 23-25 21-17 17-21 by Pan Pan and Tian Qing of China after a one hour 33 minute battle. Badminton juggernaut China has already secured an All England title in the women’s doubles as its four semifinalist pairs are Chinese.
Indonesia’s hopes in the men’s singles and fourth-seed Taufik Hidayat fell to fifth-seed Dane Peter Hoeg Gade, who will meet world number one singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the semifinals.
Sixth-seed Bao Chun Lai upset compatriot and defending champion Lin Dan in the quarterfinals to meet unexpected Japanese semifinalist Kenichi Tago, who beat Chinese third-seed Chen Jin.
China’s defending champion in the women’s singles, Wang Yihan, meets compatriot fifth-seed Wang Xin for a place in the final to meet either 2008 champion Tine Rasmussen or rising Indian star and seventh-seed Saina Nehwal.
Markis/Hendra surrendered to Danish pair Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen 14-21,
21-13, 23-21.
