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Indonesia upbeat against Chinese Taipei in quarterfinals
Indonesiaâs badminton team expressed its optimism about its chances of beating Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the Sudirman Cup on Friday
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ndonesia's badminton team expressed its optimism about its chances of beating Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the Sudirman Cup on Friday.
'Our opponent Chinese Taipei is not a heavyweight but also not an easy opponent,' said team manager Rexy Mainaky in a statement from the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI).
'The one thing that's for sure is that our chance to advance to the semifinals is wide open. Our athletes are showing improvement each day and I'm sure that they will perk up in the quarterfinals,' he said.
Indonesia, as expected, won Group C after defeating Denmark 3-2 on Wednesday with points scored in the men's doubles, women's doubles and women's singles. Denmark took its points in the men's singles and mixed doubles.
Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan put Indonesia in after defeating Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-23, 21-16, 21-12.
Bellaetrix Manuputty doubled the lead with a 21-15, 21-18 win over Line Kjaersfeldt.
Denmark reduced the gap through Jan Ostergaard Jorgensen, who outplayed young Indonesian player Firman Abdul Kholik, who lost 8-21, 10-21.
Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii retrieved the two-point lead by beating Maiken Fruergaard and Maria Helsbol 21-16, 21-13 before Mads Pieler Kolding and Sara Thygesen came from behind to beat Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto 9-21, 21-17, 21-11.
Denmark is competing without its top pairs. Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (men's doubles), Camilla Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter Juhl (women's doubles) and Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Pedersen (mixed doubles) were dropped from the team due to a sponsorship dispute.
The match score did not appear to satisfy Indonesian officials as they had expected a 4-1 win. However, with the winner being drawn against either runner-up in the four groups, Indonesia has avoided an encounter against a stronger team. Chinese Taipei is the runner-up of Group B.
The other three quarterfinal matches see Japan (Group B winner) against Denmark (Group C runner-up); defending champion China (Group A winner) against Germany (Group A runner-up) and Malaysia (Group D winner) against South Korea (Group D runner-up).
Against Chinese Taipei, Indonesia has brought back Jonatan Christie in the lineup for the men's singles tie. Jonathan failed to contribute a point when Indonesia beat England 3-2 in the opening match.
He may want to redeem his failure when he faces Hsu Jen Hao on Friday. Ahsan and Hendra will take on Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin (men's doubles). Bellaetrix is paired against Tai Tzu Ying (women's singles) while Nitya and Greysia are against Hsieh Pei Chen (women's doubles).
Indonesian mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir is also back on the court against Chen Hsiao Huan and Wang Chi-Lin.
Rexy warned his players against letting up and urged them to get fired up.
'It's only a matter of how to improve the team's [fighting] spirit,' he said.
He said that his team must watch out for the men's singles and women's singles players of Chinese Taipei.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's technical director, Morten Frost, appeared unhappy with his team drawn against South Korea. Although it beat the Koreans in the group stage, Malaysia still thinks its opponents will pose serious threats in its attempt to advance to the semifinals.
'It's the worst we could have hoped for,' Frost said as quoted by bwfbadminton.org.
'It's tough luck. But we will fight hard once again,' he added.
