MACAU OPEN 2010 QF – Indonesians shine in Macau

By Kevin Kung, Badzine Correspondent. Photos (archives) : Badmintonphoto

Once again, the battle between Boonsak Ponsana (photo) and Sony Dwi Kuncoro kept the spectators on the edge of their seats, with the Thai wonder finally winning 25-23 in the decider after saving three match points.

In the upper half of men’s singles draw, top seed Lee Chong Wei beat Shon Wan Ho 21-16, 21-12. His opponent in the semi-final is Indonesian Simon Santoso. Simon, who celebrated his birthday on Thursday with a win over his compatriot, showed no mercy Friday as he swept away Hong Kong youngster Wong Wing Ki in 21-6, 21-5.

Lee Hyun Il is still on an “upset” journey in the bottom half. After beating 11th seed Chan Yan Kit from Hong Kong yesterday, the former world #1 advanced to the semi-final by claiming the victory over Taiwan’s 13th seed Hsieh Yu Hsing in straight games 21-16, 21-15. He will face Boonsak Ponsana tomorrow.

Reigning Asian Champion Li Xuerui ended local favourite Wang Rong’s title dream.  A Former Chinese national heself, Wang was defeated in 9-21, 21-13 and 13-21. Li will meet 2008 Macau Open’s champion Zhou Mi in next round while Cheng Shao Chieh will meet Adriyanti Firdasari in the another semi-final.

Indonesia on top of doubles

In the men’s doubles, there will be two Indonesian-Korean battles in the semis.  Second seeds Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan will play against Korea’s Swiss Open champions Ko Sung Hyun / Yoo Yeon Seong, while third seed Alvent Yulianto Chandra / Hendra Aprida Gunawan will face the challenge from another Korean pair Cho Gun Woo / Kwon Yi Goo.  Cho/Kwon pulled a key upset on Thursday when they won their rematch – from the Indonesia Open final – with Fang Chieh Min / Lee Sheng Mu,  denying the Chinese Taipei pair a shot at a fifth straight title.

The remaining local hopes Zhang Dan / Zhang Zhibo will need to beat Greysia Polii / Meiliana Jauhari (photo) first to reach the final.  The Indonesians were recently dropped from the entries for the World Championships in Paris, for which they had each only qualified with their respective former partners.  Polii/Jauhari scored an upset over second seeds and former world #1’s Chin/Wong of Malaysia to make the semis.  Taiwan pair Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin, themselves coming off a pair of wins on the other side of the Pacific, will meet top seeds Miyuki Maeda / Satoko Suetsuna from Japan, who beat scratch pair Lee Kyung Won / Yoo Hyun Young in the quarter-finals.

There are three Indonesian pairs in last four of the mixed doubles. Hendra Aprida Gunawan / Vita Marissa will try their best to eliminate the Thai pair Sudket Prapakamol / Saralee Thoungthongkam to have an all-Indonesian final on Sunday. Fran Kurniawan Teng / Pia Zebadiah will have a battle with Tontowi Ahmad / Liliyana Natsir.

Badzine will report live from Macau from the semi-finals onwards.

All results HERE