FRIENDLY – Korea Week results not so friendly to local players

While most badminton lovers focus their attention on 2010 Indonesia Open GP Gold in Samarinda, there was another interesting badminton event going on in Jakarta, where Asian Champion Cho Gun Woo and East Asian Games gold medallist Choi Ho Jin were among a small group of Korea’s badminton elite who participated in an exhibition.

Story and photos by Vini Damayanti, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta

As part of the 2010 Korea-Indonesia Friendship Festival that occurred on October 11-16, both countries organized a Badminton Friendly Match in Basket Hall Arena, Senayan, on October 15-16.   Since most Indonesian stars were participating in the Indonesia Open GP Gold, challenging the Koreans were some  young but capable shuttlers from the local elite Jaya Raya team, led by Rena Suwarno, a promising women’s singles player.  Many of the Indonesians were just back from early-round losses at the Indonesia Grand Prix Gold in Samarinda, Kalimantan.

On Friday, the Koreans had an easy time of it.  Choi Ho Jin, whose claim to fame is last winter’s win over Lin Dan, had little trouble with 20-year-old Adi Pratama.   Indonesia’s Youth Olympian Rena Suwarno was the only Indonesian to win in both mixed team friendlies, twice beating Park Ko Woon, the second youngest player on the Korean national team.

Indonesia did slightly better on Saturday however, as Suwarno won again and 2009 Asian Junior Champion Angga Pratama, playing with Eka Putra, upset Cho Gun Woo and last year’s All England runner-up Han Sang Hoon in a very tight match that ended 21-19, 20-22, 21-19.  Korea’s women’s doubles pair Kim Min Seo / Jung Kyung Eun and mixed pair of Jang Sung Ho / Kim Ha Na won their two matches easily, allowing Korea to win 4-1 and 3-2 overall.

Jang Sung Ho and Kim Min Seo were awarded as the Korean MVPs, while the MVP honours for Indonesia went to Rena Suwarno and Angga Pratama.

Although Lee Yong Dae may not have been in attendance, there were many fans cheering for Korea.  In particular, Cho Gun Woo, Yong Dae’s longtime partner and classmate, and Jang Sung Ho were the favourites who were continually asked to have their pictures taken together with fans.

Full results:

Friday, October 15:  Korea 4, Jaya Raya 1

MS: Choi Ho Jin beat Adi Pratama  21-15, 21-13
WS: Park Ko Woon lost to Rena Suwarno  18-21, 21-18, 16-21
MD:Han Sang Hoon / Cho Gun Woo beat Subhan Hasan / M. Nur Rofi’i  21-10. 21-11
WD:Kim Min Seo / Jung Kyung Eun beat Dian Fitriani / Aris Budiharti  21-12, 21-18
XD:Jang Sung Ho / Kim Ha Na beat Hafiz Faizal / Shella D.A  21-11,21-15

Saturday, October 16: Korea 3, Jaya Raya 2

MS: Choi Ho Jin beat Hermansah  21-16, 21-9
WS: Park Ko Woon lost to Rena Suwarno  19-21, 10-21
MD: Han Sang Hoon / Cho Gun Woo lost to Angga Pratama / Putra Eka  19-21, 22-20, 19-21
WD: Kim Min Seo / Jung Kyung Eun beat Dian Fitriani / Aris Budiharti  21-11, 21-10
XD: Jang Sung Ho / Kim Ha Na beat Hafiz Faizal / Shella D.A  21-11,21-20