WORLDS 2015 R16 – Dutch extend, Koreans end Court 4 jinx

Jacco Arends and Selena Piek made it two upsets in a row in the Court 4 cauldron but Kim Ha Na and Ko Sung Hyun finally snapped it.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.
Video: Loïc Meuriot.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Immediately after Denmark’s 5^th-seeded Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen had their nightmare on Court 4, Jacco Arends and Selena Piek (pictured) of the Netherlands handed another upset on the same space, beating world #6 Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong of China in three close games.

The Dutch pair dropped the first, then picked up the next two, both in extra points to beat the Swiss Open champions.

“I feel amazing of course,” said Jacco Arends after the match. “To play in front of Indonesian fans is always good but to reach a quarter-final and beat a higher ranked pair is even more beautiful.”

Of their upcoming match against Xu Chen and Ma Jin, he said, “In Australia, we met them in the first round and we played an amazing match.  We were leading in the third but they pulled it off somehow.  We’re going to try to change that now and beat them.”

Watch the complete post-match interview with Arends and Piek below:

In the third match on the same court, 8^th-seeded Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na finally broke the streak, despite the fact that they too were facing Indonesian opponents with plenty of support.  The Macau Open champions Edi Subaktiar and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja were never in a threatening position and Ko and Kim made it to the quarter-finals.

“We kept the lead throughout this match so for us it was a rather comfortable win,” said Ko Sung Hyun afterward.  “The draft was pretty strong but we adapted well and it was a good match for us.

Asked about their prospects in the quarter-final round against 2013 World Champions Liliyana Natsir / Tontowi Ahmad (pictured), who won in two against Chan/Goh of Malaysia, Ko said, “Well, [Natsir and Ahmad] are a great pair and we’ve faced them plenty of times before so we’ll just analyse their matches and we’ll try to put on a good match against them.

“The Indonesian pairs are particularly good at controlling the net but we think that if we can keep the rallies going longer against Natsir and Ahmad then stamina might be a factor in our favour.

Of playing in court 4, Ko said, “Well, the Indonesian fans are so supportive and then they are of course particularly supportive of the Indonesian players so it can be disorienting on court but if you are focussed on your match, the noise isn’t that much of a factor.

“Yesterday’s loss was a real disappointment,” said Ko, speaking of the defeat he and Shin Baek Cheol (pictured bottom) suffered to Goh/Tan Wednesday in men’s doubles, “so of course it was great that I still have mixed doubles to concentrate on so I’m really intent on doing my best and producing a good result in mixed.”

Click here for complete Day 4 results