ASIAN GAMES Day 9 – Ayo set to fight Jiayou!

Ahmad Tontowi and Lilyana Natsir prevented a second all-Chinese final after harshly sweeping away recent World Championship silver medallists while the Chinese gold medal contenders Zhao Yunlei / Zhang Nan confirmed their number one seed status, defeating their lower-ranked opponents Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto.

By Tarek Hafi, Badzine Correspondent live in Incheon.  Photos: Don Hearn (live)

Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei didn’t seem keen on abruptly stopping their domination as, for the second time in a row, they join the Asian Games mixed doubles final. Being denied the title four years ago in Guangzhou by Korea’s Shin Baek Cheol and Lee Hyo Jung, the Chinese made sure to not fall against any underdogs before the final stage.

Two games were sufficient to seal the match despite many battled rallies from the Indonesians but the seeding still respected in the end with a final score of 21-19, 21-17.

Ahmad Tontowi and Lilyana Natsir imposed some high pressure on the Chinese shoulders.  Though trailing at first, with a vociferous Indonesian cheering section on their side and tricky shots only they can do, the former World Champions completely took the first game to their advantage.

The Indonesian pair were an unstoppable machine, that left only pieces to the Olympic and World silver medalists.  Controlling every corner of the court both tactically and technically, they punished the Chinese world number twos with a severe 11-0 mid-game interval score.

“We just don’t know what happened in the second game.  We completely lost our control when we should have fought to win,” reacted Ma Jin, still in shock from the harsh loss.

But it didn’t prevent the Indonesians from continuing to run forwards, assaulting the Chinese with many attacks, and totally controlling net area.

“We definitely didn’t expect to win that easily,” confessed a smiling Tontowi Ahmad after the semi-final.

“Greysia and Nitya’s win yesterday gave us strength and confidence.  Women’s doubles has never been a strong discipline in Indonesia but they showed us the way,” added the very down-to-earth Lilyana Natsir.

Of tomorrow’s final against their Chinese nemesis Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, Natsir added, “We don’t want to think about the match, but go out there and give it our best shot.”

Click here for complete Day 9 results