No more RI shuttlers in women’s singles

Host nation Indonesia has no representatives in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Djarum Indonesia Open as its remaining shuttler, Aprilla Yuswandari, lost 21-17, 14-21, 21-13, to India’s Saina Nehwal on Thursday.

For Aprilla, who reached the event’s main stage, world No. 5 Nehwal was indeed too great an opponent, although the Indonesian won the second game.

“In the rubber game, Saina changed her playing style. She sped up her game and I was troubled by it. She was very accurate — barely made any unforced errors,” the world No. 46 told reporters at a press conference after the match at Istora Indoor Stadium in Senayan, Jakarta.

“I found my rhythm again, but the point gap was too much,” said Aprilla, who hopes to reach the top-eight at the 2012 Indonesia Open.

Despite the loss, the 24-year-old said that she learned a lot from her second loss to Nehwal. “I met her at the India GP in 2010 and lost [21-17, 21-11]. It was good to face her again, to boost my confidence.”

Aprilla said that she aimed at breaking into the world’s top 20 by the end of the year.

Nehwal, the 2009 and 2010 Indonesia Open women’s single champion, credited Aprilla for giving her a serious fight in the second game.

“She [Aprilla] is a hard worker. She’s the kind of player who can challenge top players.

“In the third game, I gave her a lot of rallies, which I thought overwhelmed her,” said Nehwal, who won the Swiss Open in March and the Thailand Open last week.

Nehwal said she the Indonesia Open as a perfect event to stake out possible opponents in the upcoming Olympics Games in London. “We’ve got to know the top players before the Olympics.”

For the London Games, Nehwal said that she would have an intensive preparation period of five weeks. “The Olympics create a lot of pressure. It’s a big tournament, but so far, I’ve been pleased with my performance. I don’t have high expectations; I’ll just do my best.”

In other courts in the women’s division, Indonesian pair Melvira Oklamona-Khaeriah Rosmini lost 21-15, 21-15 to eighth-seed Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna of Japan; Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth-Rizki Amelia Pradipta were beaten 21-9, 21-12 by China’s Xia Huan-Jinhua Tang; and Komala Dewi-Jenna Gozali was ousted 21-16, 21-5 by sixth-seed Shizuka Matsuo-Mami Naito of Japan.

Later in the day, Indonesian women’s doubles pair Meiliana Jauhari-Greysia Polii was set to face compatriots Imawan Gebby Ristiyani-Nuraidah Tiara Rosalia, meaning that at least one Indonesian women’s pair will play in the quarterfinals.

In the women’s singles quarterfinals on Friday, Nehwal is set to face world No. 4 Wang Shixian of China. Nehwal said she had a good chance of beating Wang, as she has triumphed over the Chinese shuttler in two of their last three outings, most recently at the Swiss Open, when Nehwal ousted Wang to claim the title.

World No. 1 Wang Yihan of China will meet either Tina Baun of Denmark or Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria, Juliane Schenk of Germany will face either Xuerui Li of China or Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand, and Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea will go up against Xin Wang of China.

In the women’s doubles quarterfinals, China’s Xiaoli Wang-Yang Yu will face Japan’s Shizuka Matsuo-Mami Naito; China’s Yixin Bao-Qianxin Zhong will meet South Korea’s Kyung Eun Jung-Ha Na Kim; Japan’s Maeda-Suetsuna will fight against either Indonesia’s Meiliana-Greysia or Imawan-Nuraidah; and China’s Xia Huan-Jinhua Tang will meet compatriots Qing Tian-Yunlei Zhao.

— JP/Niken Prathivi