Matheos Viktor Messakh, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 06/25/2010 11:42 AM
Mixed double pair Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir secured a slot in the quarterfinals of the Djarum Indonesia Open badminton tournament after defeating Thailand's Patipat Chalardchaleam/Savitree Amitapai of 21-10, 18-21, 21-11 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.
First-seeded Nova and Liliyana struggled against the Thais at the start of the first match before leveling the points at 8. The pair went on to dominate the set and eventually won 21-10.
The Thais bounced back to win the second set 21-18.
In the third match, the pairs initially exchanged the lead until the score leveled at 7-7. Indonesians then took the lead and never looked back, finishing the game 21-11.
"We struggled in the second set. We could not aanything right. If we hit the shuttle hard, it would go of the court. If we hit it too softly, the shuttle would hit the net," Nova told reporters after the game.
"We made the right adjustments. In the end, we won the first set easily, lost the second and easily won the third match."
Nova/Liliyana will square off against eighth-seed Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam from Thailand, who beat Hung Ling Chen/Wen Hsing Cheng 21-11, 22-24, 21-18 in another second-round match.
Second-seed Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark also advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Indonesia's Ahmad Tantowi/Greysia Polii 21-18, 19-21, 21-15.
"Now we are in the quarterfinals. I think that was our first main target," Laybourn told reporters after the match.
"We had a very tough draw against the England yesterday and a touch match against the Indonesians today. We look forward to the quarterfinals and we'll see what happens."
Laybourn said that Nova and Liliyana may be a threat in the tournament's later stages.
"They always play an amazing game when on their home court. It could be fun to have a final match with them. I saw them struggling a bit today against Thailand, but you never know with Nova and Natsir. They can play a really bad game and the next day they will be amazing. You never know."
Indonesia's top men's doubles pair Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan, who were seeded second, had to pack their bags after they were defeated by Taiwan's Chieh Min Fang/Sheng Mu Lee 25-27, 21-16, 21-10.
"We made a lot of mistakes and they seemed to be moving faster than us during the whole match. They looked fresh and were faster while we seemed to be running out of stamina," Markis said.
In men's single division, title contender Sony Dwi Kuncoro again triumphed in the second round and advanced to the quarterfinals at the expense of Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands 21-14, 21-17.
In the women's doubles, unseeded Indonesian juniors Suci Rizki Andini/Della Destiara Haris made a surprising run to the quarterfinals after they defeated Japan's Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito 21-12, 21-18.
This is their time in a Super Series tournament. Della, 18, and Suci, 17, were just promoted from the second squad of the national training camp to the first team in March.
