TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesia's shuttlers out despite improving
Against the same opponent that inflicted a 5-0 defeat in their first match, Indonesia upped its game but still fell short of advancing further in the ongoing Sudirman Cup world mixed team badminton championship
Change Size
A
gainst the same opponent that inflicted a 5-0 defeat in their first match, Indonesia upped its game but still fell short of advancing further in the ongoing Sudirman Cup world mixed team badminton championship.
The Indonesian team was forced to bow out to China 3-2 at Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
It is the first time the one-time champion has been halted in the quarterfinals.
Motivated to avenge the loss in the group match, Indonesia started well with All England mixed doubles champions Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir defeating Xu Chen/Ma Jin 18-21 21-14 16-21.
Chen Long evened the score for China with his 21-11 21-15 win over Tommy Sugiarto in the men's singles.
Indonesia retrieved the lead after Rian Agung Saputro/Angga Pratama stunned London Olympic gold medalists Chai Yun/Fu Haifeng in a 21-19 18-21 15-21 closely-fought match.
The heroic performance by the Indonesian pair raised hopes about winning the elusive trophy in the championship that Indonesia first won back in 1989.
The hopes did not materialize.
Lindaweni Fanetri was overpowered by Li Xuerui 21-16, 21-13 in the women's singles, which left the women's doubles to decide the meeting.
Liliyana Natsir and Krishinda Maheswari Nitya, who paired up for the first time, posed tough opposition particularly in the second game against world number five pair Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli.
After easily losing 21-12 in the first game, the Indonesian pair upped their game in the second. They managed to force it 12-12 before narrowly losing out 21-19 eventually.
This is the first time Indonesia has failed to advance to the semifinals of the championship, since it was first staged in 1989 when Indonesia emerged victorious.
The team tried to look on the positive side of the defeat.
'Our athletes, coaches and the whole team have done their best. We should be proud of the result. We lost narrowly 3-2,' Gita Wirjawan, chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), told The Jakarta Post via text message.
Badminton legend, Susy Susanti praised the players' performance despite the defeat.
'We have to admit that we have lost to China but we lost honorably considering the remarkable struggle put up by the whole team,' she said.
She added that the loss was not a result of bad performance by the Indonesian players, but more due to the luck factor.
'It's more about bad drawing that forced Indonesia to meet China again in the quarterfinals. I personally think that today's matches were the finals of Sudirman Cup,' said the Barcelona Olympics gold medalist.
'Even though Indonesia failed to meet the target of advancing to the semifinals, when I look at the young shuttlers' performances, we're on the right track for Indonesia's badminton awakening'.
In other quarterfinal matches, South Korea dismissed Germany 3-0 while Denmark edged out Chinese Taipei.
China will face Denmark, while South Korea will face Thailand in the semifinals on May 25.
