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Indonesian shuttlers secure two golds in doubles

Indonesia’s SEA Ga-mes’ badminton team secured two gold medals in doubles on Friday

Agnes Winarti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, November 19, 2011

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Indonesian shuttlers secure two golds in doubles

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ndonesia’s SEA Ga-mes’ badminton team secured two gold medals in doubles on Friday. Two all-Indonesian finals are now set to take place in the men’s and women’s doubles at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Saturday.

Men’s duo M. Ahsan and Bona Septano beat Patiphat Chalardchalaem and Niphitphon Phuangphuapet 21-12, 21-16 to take on their compatriots Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in Saturday’s finale.

“This is our first final duel against [Kido and Hendra]. I long to win the gold here, so we will fight all out, regardless of the fact that he is my older brother,” said Bona, the younger brother of Kido. It is Bona’s second SEA Games. Two years ago in Laos, he won the bronze. The last time Bona and Ahsan met their seniors was at the semifinals of Japan Open Superseries, where the younger team emerged victorious.

Three-times SEA Games champions Kido and Hendra were forced to expend more energy than they would’ve liked against the last Malaysian team in the semis, the rising duo Goh V. Shem and Lim Khim Wah, in grueling contest that finished 21-13, 17-21, 21-19.

“We still have a great desire to win and make it our fourth SEA Games gold. It’s true that it gets harder and harder to become champions due to the tight competition. But we are counting on our experience and attacking play to beat Bona and Ahsan,” said Hendra.

The all-Indonesian final in the women’s doubles mirrors that of the men’s. The match will feature the senior duo Nadya Melati and Vita Marissa facing off against the young pretenders Anneke Feinya Agustine and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari.

Feinya, a first timer at the Games, and her partner Nitya had convincingly upset the Thai top seeds Duanganong Aroonkesron and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul in straight sets, 21-13, 21-10. Nadya and Vita, meanwhile, fought a much closer battle, eventually defeating Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari of Singapore 21-18, 21-17.

“During the squad selection, we were uncertain whether we would be included or not. This is our chance to prove that we are just as capable,” said 21-year-old Feinya, who along with her partner Nitya were included in the squad at the last minute due to the injury-related withdrawal of the country’s top women’s doubles partnership, Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhary.

The men’s singles and mixed doubles failed to create two more all-Indonesian finals, as Taufik Hidayat and the mixed duo M. Rijal and Debby Susanto both lost at the semifinal stage to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 14-21, 19-21 and to Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam 11-21, 14-21, respectively.

In the final, Simon Santoso, who bounced back to win 21-17, 21-12 against Derek Wong Zi Liang, will face Tanongsak. The top seeds of the mixed competition, Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, who defeated Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 21-19, 21-14, will take on Sudket and Saralee.

The women’s singles also featured an upset, as the silver medalist at the Laos SEA Games, Ratchanok Intanon, surrendered to Singaporean Fu Mingtian 17-21, 21-19, 20-22 in a war of attrition. Thailand thus failed to emulate the women’s singles gold stint that was achieved by Salakjit Ponsana two years ago, as the country ran out of representatives in what was considered their strongest field.

Adriyanti Firdasari also beat Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, 21-15, 14-21, 21-15 to reach the final, where she will meet Fu Mingtian.

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