INDONESIA OPEN 2014 R16 – Wang deposed on 2nd straight Thursday

Nitchaon Jindapon scored her first ever victory over a top Chinese player, ousting Wang Yihan and starting off another string of upsets on Day 3 of the BC Indonesia Open Superseries Premier.

By Nadhira Hafsha, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.  Photos: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

For the second straight week, Wang Yihan had her bid to regain a Supseries women’s singles title she last won in 2011 stopped in the 2^nd round.  This week, she was ousted by 23-year-old Nitchaon Jindapon (pictured).  The world #13 from Thailand, who vowed to reach the top ten this year for the first time in her career, was playing with a more attacking right from the first game.

“Today I didn’t have any pressure,” explained Jindapon after the match.  “I just played with nothing to lose because she is the more experience player and has won many titles.  I just played a relaxed match and somehow it worked out.”

Despite leading in the second game, it was Wang Yihan who seized it and forced the decider.

“In the second game, I didn’t play relaxed.  I rushed to finish the game.  My target here is the semi-final so I will give my best for tomorrow.”

In-house competition

Jindapon’s current struggle may not only be to move up in the world rankings.  With her world #8 team-mate Porntip Buranaprasertsuk struggling with her form of late, it may well be between Jindapon and Busanan Ongbamrungphan (pictured above) to accompany Ratchanok Intanon to the Asian Games singles competition this autumn.

However, Jindapon has yet to distance herself from Ongbamrungphan this week as the 18-year-old made her own way into the quarter-finals in Jakarta, seeing off last week’s Japan Open finalist, Tai Tzu Ying (pictured) of Chinese Taipei 21-16 17-21 21-19

“Today’s game was really tiring, because Tai Tzu Ying is a strong player,” said Ongbamrungphan afterward.  “Her racquetwork skills are outstanding. I had to move very well to be able to balance her.”

The young Thai’s Friday opponent will be the second ranked from China, Wang Shixian whom she beat last year in the first round of this same event. She hopes that the Indonesian supporter would be cheering for her tomorrow.

“I have come to Indonesia many times.  I played in the league here, I have many fans in Indonesia, and they always cheer me while I play.

“I just want to play my matches one by one.  I always try to give a good performance in every match.  Win or lose, it’s okay.  At least I always give my good form.”

Three Koreans advance in two

A repeat of this year’s German Open final between Ayaka Takahashi / Misaki Matsutomo and Jung Kyung Eun / Kim Ha Na (pictured) was served on this second round of the Indonesia Open.  The Japanese were unable to repeat the form that gave them their first win against the Korean on that occasion.  This time it was Jung and Kim who got the edge back and won it 17-21, 21-19, 21-11.

“We are so happy about winning the match today. We were more focused and didn’t make too many errors.  We boost each other’s spirit.  That’s why we were able to win today,” Kim Ha Na said afterward.

“In the second game, when the Japanese tried to chase the points, we started to get nervous and felt more pressure to win the game, but in the critical points, the Japanese played hesitantly and we conveniently snatched the second game.”

Kevin and Greysia held to one miracle

After beating the Olympic gold medallists on Wednesday, the new mixed doubles pairing from Indonesia was beaten by Lee Yong Dae / Shin Seung Chan (pictured) 18-21, 17-21 in the second round.

“Today’s game was considerably an exciting match for me and my partner. Shin Seung Chan played great today,” said Lee Yong Dae.  “The first seeds had lost to these Indonesians yesterday, and we thought that we had to take this opportunity to advance to the next round.

“We have to keep playing like this, so that we can advance to the final.”

“Today we didn’t play as well as yesterday,” said Kevin Sanjaya.  “We were feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way we were playing, unlike yesterday. I had a hard time anticipating Lee Yong Dae’s  shots.  He was always the one controlling the game from the start.”

Shin and Lee and Kim Ha Na all found their other matches much smoother as all three moved into two quarter-finals, as did Ma Jin and Christinna Pedersen.

Vita and Shendy edged out

The 15^th ranked pair from Singapore, Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei (pictured) may yet make it to their first ever semi-final at the Superseries Premier level.  It was a tight and intense match for them against Indonesian veterans Shendy Puspa Irawati and Vita Marissa but they pushed through to take it 22-20, 7-21, 25-23.

“We tried to focus in each game,” said the Indonesian-born Shinta Mulia Sari.  “In the second game, we played very awfully because the Indonesians fought back and started to play better after losing the first game. And in the third game we managed to play a stable game and minimize the errors.  We kept our focus even though the whole stadium was cheering against us.”

“This is our first quarter- final for the premier events [since 2012], so we will try our best for tomorrow against China, because we know it will be a tough game tomorrow and hopefully we can win,” added Yao Lei.

Click here for complete Round of 16 results