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Indonesia sees the same cards still in contention for BCA titles

All-Indonesia match: World number one pair Hendra Setiawan (left) and Mohammad Ahsan team up against fellow Indonesians Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Markis Kido in the men’s doubles quarterfinal match at the BCA Indonesia Open 2014 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Friday

Irawaty Wardany (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, June 21, 2014

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Indonesia sees the same cards still in contention for BCA titles All-Indonesia match: World number one pair Hendra Setiawan (left) and Mohammad Ahsan team up against fellow Indonesians Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Markis Kido in the men’s doubles quarterfinal match at the BCA Indonesia Open 2014 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Friday. Hendra/Ahsan won 21-13, 21-23, 21-13. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama) (left) and Mohammad Ahsan team up against fellow Indonesians Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Markis Kido in the men’s doubles quarterfinal match at the BCA Indonesia Open 2014 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Friday. Hendra)

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span class="inline inline-none">All-Indonesia match: World number one pair Hendra Setiawan (left) and Mohammad Ahsan team up against fellow Indonesians Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Markis Kido in the men'€™s doubles quarterfinal match at the BCA Indonesia Open 2014 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Friday. Hendra/Ahsan won 21-13, 21-23, 21-13. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)

It'€™s the same old names again carrying on fighting for Indonesian honor at the US$750,000 BCA Indonesia Open 2014 badminton tournament, while a drove of young and new host players have fallen by the wayside.

Indonesia'€™s hopefuls in men'€™s doubles, Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan and mixed doubles Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir secured their semifinals tickets after defeating their respective opponents.

World number one Hendra/Ahsan held off compatriots Gideon Markus Fernaldi/Markis Kido'€™s resilience to eke out a 21-13 21-23 21-13 win in the quarterfinals on Thursday while Tontowi/Liliyana easily disposed of England'€™s Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock 21-12, 21-8.

'€œWe'€™re glad to be advancing to the semifinals. Gideon/Markis played well. They played well and it was quite a tough game for us,'€ said Ahsan after the match.

They will play against Kim Ki-jung/Kim Sa-rang of South Korea in the semifinals on Saturday, while Tontowi/Liliyana will face China'€™s Xu Chen/Ma Jin.

Asked about the lack of Indonesian shuttlers making it to the semifinals, Hendra said he had hoped to see more Indonesians in the semifinals.

'€œIt shows that competition on the world badminton stage is getting tougher and therefore shuttlers must work hard to improve their performance,'€ he said.

Liliyana said that despite the mass exits, she saw good prospects among young athletes.

'€œIt'€™s a premier tournament. They are world-class players. But some of them showed promise, such as Kevin [Sanjaya Sukamuljo],'€ she said.

She added that she hoped that by the time she retired, there would be new players to continue the legacy of Indonesia'€™s badminton legends.

Commenting on their next opponents in the semifinals, Liliyana said they were equal in terms of skill. '€œIt'€™s a matter of who is fitter and more focused on the court,'€ she said.

Men'€™s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said that he had wished to see Angga Pratama/Ryan Agung Saputro in the semifinals considering their performance at the Japan Open two weeks ago, where they advanced to the semifinals.

'€œUnfortunately, when they met Kim Ki-jung/Kim Sa-rang, they made a lot of mistakes that gave the advantage to their opponents. They should have remained calm so that they could have thought clearly during the match,'€ he said.

He pointed out that even though both pairs shared a similar skill level, being able to keep emotions in check and maturity sometimes became deciding factors in a match.

'€œThere are some players who mature quickly and others take more time to reach that level [of maturity]. That'€™s still a mystery to me,'€ he said.

He added that some players with extraordinary talents could mature at the age of 23 or 24, but most players he coached had reached that level of maturity (in court) at the age of 26, such as the case with Ahsan, Chandra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto.

Meanwhile, world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia is aiming for his sixth Indonesian Open title to equal archrival and best friend Taufik Hidayat.

He secured his semifinal ticket after defeating Dane'€™s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-8, 21-11. He will next face either Kenichi Tago of Japan or Hu Yun of Hong Kong.

'€œI hope I can win for the sixth time,'€ said the shuttler, who is planning to retire after the 2016 Olympic Games.

He said that next year he would slow down and focus only on major championships.

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