INDONESIA OPEN 2013 Day 2 – Wangs wacked

Both Wang Shixian and third seed Wang Yihan were shown an early exit at the Djarum Indonesia Open Superseries Premier on Tuesday, for their first round.

By Mathilde Liliana Perada, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.  Photos: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

China’s women’s singles had a tough day in Istora Senayan on Tuesday:  Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian were both upset on their opening matches in the heat of Jakarta.  Wang Yihan, who came as the number 3 seed, had a smooth start against Yip Pui Yin (photo) in the first game, winning 21-12. The Hong Kong number one had another slow start in the beginning of the second game, but once she got her engin running, she couldn’t be stopped – and eventually edged out the Olympic silver medallist 12-21, 21-19, 21-18 in over an hour of play.

Another Wang – Shixian, standing at world’s  number 7  – was not at her best either.  She lost to teenager Busanan Ongbamrungphan, in three games. Busanan said that she had played with no pressure today.

“Shixian is a strong player and has good attack but my result as runner up at the Thailand Open gave me confidence in the match,” said the seventeen-year-old Thai. Busanan will face another teenager from Spain, Carolina Marin, who turns 20 this Saturday.  Marin beat one of the host team’s top women’s singles players, Ardianti Firdasari, in the second round of this tournament.

Another surprise was waiting in the women’s singles. Belaetrix Manuputy created a formidable upset over Sung Ji Hyun (photo). “Bella” played with a lot of confidence and wonderful spirit, cheered by strong home support. Sung Ji Hyun herself often made mistakes and let her opponent get points easily. Ratchanok Intanon, meanwhile, did not make it to the first round after her win in Bangkok and withdrew from the event.

Malaysia Grand Prix Gold winners gone

Praveen Jordan, who only recently paired up with veteran Vita Marissa, has had a pretty good 2013 so far. The two have already won the New Zealand and Malaysia Opens this year. But in this tournament, the duo was sent packing by India’s Tarun Kona / Ashwini Ponnappa.  Playing at home was not enough for Praveen and Vita and the last game was suspenseful but was finally won by Kona/Ashwini for a final 21-18, 14-21, 25-23. Kona said that he appeared to be under preasure because the support from the home fans was so amazing.

“I made a lot of mistakes at the crucial point but Ashwini played well and calmed me down,” said Kona.

Indonesia still has many mixed doubles pairs who went through the next round. Muhammad Rijal / Debby Susanto (photo), who stand at #7  in the world rankings, were among them.  They just took two games to ensure their step on the next round.

“We had never met this Japanese pair [Takeshi Kamura/Koharu Yonemoto] so we didn’t try to control the game or play with any particular tactics,” said Rijal before adding that Takeshi/Koharu have good defense that forced the Indonesians to play the game technically and be patient.  Rijal predicted that Denmark’s Joachim Fischer Nielsen / Christinna Pedersen would be their strongest opponents before the semis.

Click here for complete Tuesday results