INDONESIA OPEN 2010 QF – Japanese troupe stamps on

By: Serla Rusli, reporting live from Istora Senayan, Jakarta. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

The Japanese came to the court without expectations. “We didn’t expect to win at all. We didn’t even expect to make it this far into the tournament,” said Noriyasu Hirata. The two pairs last met at the Thomas Cup. Back then, Koo Kien Keat / Tan Boon Heong (pictured right) reigned over the Japanese in straight games 21-13, 21-17.

“When we played against them back in May, our coach told us that the Malaysians played one level above us. However, he was very encouraging and told us to just try our best during the match,” added Hashimoto.

With the defeat of Koo/Tan, Hashimoto/Hirata became the highest-ranked players still thriving in the men’s doubles draw. “We think that we have a higher chance to win the tournament now, but of course we’ll just focus first on our semi-final match,” commented Hashimoto.

The Japanese will face Cho Gun Woo / Kwon Yi Goo.  The Koreans have been climbing their way up from the qualifying rounds to the semi-finals and along the way crushed fourth-seeded Choong Tan Fook / Lee Wan Wah and their own younger compatriots Kim Ki Jung / Shin Baek Cheol.

Sayaka Sato (photo) conjured up yet another pleasant surprise for Japan. After stunning third seed Zhou Mi of Hong Kong in the first round, she upset Zhou’s compatriot, Yip Pui Yin. She claimed her semi-final spot after eliminating the last seeded shuttler from the bottom half of the draw in 21-9, 21-23, 21-19.

Eriko Hirose will represent Japan in the other half of the women’s singles draw. She beat fifth seed Yao Jie in a close 21-19, 10-21, 22-20 fight. She is set to face the defending champion Saina Nehwal from India, who is still well on her way for her third consecutive tournament victory which, at the same time, would mark her second consecutive Indonesia Open title.

Miyuki Maeda / Satoko Suetsuna still keeps the Nihon flag flying high in the women’s doubles event as they moved on to semi-finals after defeating Savitree Amitapai / Vacharaporn Munkit (THA) in straight games 21-16, 21-17. The first-seeded Japanese will take on Kim Min Jung / Lee Hyo Jung. The Korean duo survived the intense atmosphere against them at Istora Senayan when they were playing against Meiliana Jauhari / Greysia Polii in a convincing 21-15, 21-16 win.