Indonesia’s only finalist at the prestigious 100th edition of the All England Open Super Series in Birmingham, England, World No. 1 Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir buried hopes to repeat the country’s 31-year-old sole glory in the mixed doubles sector by Christian Hadinata/Imelda Wiguna in 1979.
Although leading up to five points (13-8, 17-12) several times, the Beijing Olympics silver medalist pair lost 18-21 to Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei of China in the first set of their Sunday final match. In the second set, Nova/Lilyana extended their All England title hopes winning 25-23.
The Indonesian pair’s hope was shattered as they lost 21-18 in the third set resulting in Zhang/Zhao crowned as this year’s All England mixed doubles winners.
It was the second time that Nova/Lilyana reached the All England finals since 2008 when they were also defeated by the then Chinese champion Zheng Bo/Gao Ling.
Second seed Nova/Lilyana booked their finale ticket after upsetting long-time rivals and Beijing Olympics gold medalist Lee Yong Dae/ Lee Hyo Jung of South Korea in a one-hour-and-eight-minutes, 21-16 18- 21 21-8, semifinals clash early Sunday in Jakarta (Saturday local time), while Zhang/Zhao beat defending champion compatriot He Hanbin/Yu Yang 21-14, 23-21.
At the ongoing Sunday finale after press time, defending champion of the women’s singles Wang Yihan of China dueled against 2008 champion Tine Rasmussen of Denmark.
World No. 1 men’s singles Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia met Japanese Kenichi Tago, who unexpectedly stepped into the final after consecutively beating China’s top shuttlers Bao Chunlai in the semis and Chen Jin in the quarters.
While China created an all-Chinese final in the women’s doubles, Denmark also made an all-Danish final in the men’s doubles, as Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen crashed out Indonesia’s World No. 3 Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan in a 58-minute semifinal bout of 14-21 21-13 23-21.
“The Danish pair are patient and calm during critical points. They were not in a rush [to win], while we were not patient enough,” Markis told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The Beijing Olympics gold medalist duo will only have a brief time to rest as they will compete in the Swiss Super Series, which runs Mar. 16-21 in Basel, Switzerland.
“We definitely want to be the champion [there]. Most importantly, we will play our best,” said Markis.
“The All England result will fuel their motivation to do better in Switzerland,” doubles coach Chafidz
Yusuf added.
Being absent from the Swiss Super Series last year, Markis/Hendra last participated in the event in 2008, where they finished runner-up after losing to South Korean pair Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae.
Besides third seed Markis/Hendra and fifth seed Alvent Yulianto Chandra/Hendra Aprida Gunawan in the men’s singles, several Indonesian shuttlers will also be playing in Switzerland, including fourth seed Taufik Hidayat and Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the men’s singles, Maria Febe Kusumastuti and Gustiani Megawati in the women’s singles and Viki Indra Akvana/ Gustiani in the mixed doubles.
Most of the shuttlers registered in the national training camp are not participating in the Swiss Super Series as they are focusing on preparation for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals on May 9-16 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
