Indonesia assured itself of winning a title at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton championships after two of its mixed doubles pairs reached the final on Saturday, kompas.com reported.
Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir were the first to book a final berth at the US$120,000 tournament after beating their compatriots Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah in straight sets 21-13, 21-11.
Last year’s runners-up and top seeds this year, Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa, dropped a set before posting a 21-12, 19-21, 21-12 win over Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand in the other semifinal.
The all-Indonesian final on Sunday will give Indonesia a much-needed morale boost amid its title drought.
Liliyana said she expected a tough final against her former training mates on Sunday. “We know each other although we are no longer together. Vita is my former partner,” said Liliyana, who tops the world ranking along with regular partner Nova Widianto.
Indonesia stands a chance of winning more titles as its players also reached the final in women’s singles through Adriyanti Firdasari, women’s doubles through Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii and men’s doubles through Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Hendra AG.
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