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Tontowi-Liliyana, Marcus-Kevin sail through to Indonesia Open finals
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Indonesian pair Liliyana Natsir (left) and Tontowi Ahmad (right) shake hands with their compatriots Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja and Hafiz Faisal after winning a 2018 Indonesia Open semifinal match in Jakarta on Saturday. (PBSI/PBSI)
I
ndonesia’s top seeds in mixed and men’s doubles advanced to the 2018 Indonesia Open finals on Saturday, putting on dominating performances against their compatriots before thousands of spectators at Istora Senayan.
World number one pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir outclassed their juniors Hafiz Faisal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-18, 21-8 in Saturday’s semifinals.
Tontowi said their opponents were not in top form in the semifinal match, despite showing laudable performances in previous rounds.
Hafiz and Gloria made their way to the semifinals after beating sixth-seeded pair Christinna Pedersen and Mathias Christiansen of Denmark in the second round and senior compatriots Ricky Karandasuwardi and Debby Susanto in Friday's quarterfinals.
"Our opponents were calmer than us and they had learned our style. They read our strategy," said Hafiz.
In the final, Tontowi and Liliyana, the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalists, will face Goh Liu Ying and Chan Oeng Soon of Malaysia in a rematch of the Rio final.
In the men’s doubles, world number one pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon crushed Fajar Alfian and M. Rian Ardianto to reach the final of the top-level tournament
Kevin and Marcus beat their fellow countrymen 21-13, 21-10.
The Indonesians will face seventh-seeded pair Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko of Japan in the final.
