Indonesia defeated Hong Kong 3-0 in the group stage of the women’s badminton team competition on Sunday, setting itself up for a tougher opponent in South Korea in the knockouts.

Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, 19, opened the match trailing opponent Cheung Ngan Yi.

With hundreds of Indonesian supporters chanting “Indonesia” to boost her spirits, Gregoria managed to bounce back, edging Cheung 21-19 in the first game before trouncing her 21-8 in the second.

Gregoria said she faced trouble with drifts in the beginning of the battle, but she quickly adapted to the conditions on the court to come out on top.

Talking about her recipe for success, Gregoria said that, before the competition, she watched tape of Cheung to learn her playing style.

“She tends to be exhausted during long rallies,” Gregoria said.

Encouraged by Gregoria’s victory, badminton women’s double pair and world number fours Greysia Polli and Apriyani Rahayu easily defeated Ng Tsz Yau and Yuen Sin Ying 21-14, 21-11.

Tasked with completing the sweep for the Indonesia women’s team, all eyes were on singles shuttler Fitriani, who played a close match against Yip Pui Yin.

After losing 21-18 in the first game, she successfully changed the tempo in the second and third games, winning them 21-13 and 21-10.

Yip’s deteriorating physical stamina in the third game seemed to contribute to Fitriani’s win.

Fitriani said after the game that words of encouragement from her coach had helped catapult her to victory.

“My coach said I could win the game if I could be confident,” she said.

Women’s singles coach Minarti Timur said she hoped the athletes could display their best performances in their matches against South Korea on Monday.

Gregoria is set to compete with world number nine Sung Ji Hyun in the next round.

“We told the athletes that they had to prove that they could perform well in the quadrennial event. No matter how hard it will be, they have to show their best performance,” Minarti said.

Meanwhile in the men’s team competition, world champion Kento Momota led Japan to a 3-0 win over Malaysia in round of 16 of the men’s team competition at Istora indoor stadium in Senayan, Jakarta, on Sunday.

Momota, who won the world championship early this month, began Japan’ charges by cruising to a 21-13, 21-14 thumping of Liew Daren.

Despite the convincing win, the explosive 23-year-old shuttler looked to be overwhelmed by Daren’s aggressive shots, especially in the second game, before he regrouped to hold off his opponent’s offense.

On the other hand, Daren’s impressive efforts ended in vain as he made a rash of errors, paving the way for Momota to win the game.

During the post-match conference, Momota applauded his opponent. “The opponent is strong in attacks. I’m not completely satisfied with the game and I have to prepare for the tomorrow’s match,” he said.

The lefty shuttler said he hoped to snatch a gold medal in the Asian Games.

Japan doubled its lead through Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda in the doubles match against Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong.

The world’s third-best pair was on fire, energetically performing their sharp shots throughout the game With Sonoda repeatedly shouting his excitement, spectators were fully engaged in the entertaining, closely fought match.

While the Malaysian pair made unnecessary mistakes on their own, the Japanese team managed to overcome crucial moments to eventually seal the match 21-18, 21-18.

Kenta Nishimoto later wrapped up Japan’s victory by upsetting debutant Lee Zii Jia.

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) said it was eyeing gold medals from badminton given the improvement of Japanese shuttlers lately. JOC executive board member Yasuhiro Yamashita said coach Riony Mainaky of Indonesia had played a key role in shaping up the players.

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