General

The Danes so close to causing a big upset in Jakarta (Photo: Badminton Photo)
We had a thriller in Jakarta
Date: 7/6/2018 7:39 PM
Published by : Alan Raftery
Quarter-finals day came to an end in perhaps the loudest Badminton tournament in the world, the Indonesia Open. And the fans were definitely entertained today with no less than 8 Indonesian players/pairs looking to book their spot in the semi-finals.

Things kicked off nicely for Indonesia, with the current Mixed Doubles Olympic and world champions Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir beating China’s Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui in commanding fashion, 21-17, 21-14. However, the mood in the arena took a slight dip following 3 straight game defeats for Indonesian hopefuls. Only a thriller could lift the mood again.

The entertainers
A thriller is exactly what we got in the Men’s Doubles. The world number one pair, and Indonesian superstars Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo entered the court to face 5th seeds Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding from Denmark. This Indonesians always put on a show to entertain the crowd. And we were no disappointed. 

In the space of a year, the two pairs faced off 5 times, and all 5 went to Gideon and Sukamiljo relatively comfortably. But this match turned out to be a special one. The Danes took the first game 22-20 which was a tight affair all the way though. The second game looked like it would go to the Indonesians quite comfortably after a clear increase in intensity, however the Danes battled hard to the end, but despite their efforts the scores were levelled with the game going to Indonesia also 22-20. The final game was a fantastic display of great rallies, grit and determination. It was Gideon and Sukamuljo who wanted it more and took the match 21-18. They now face their countrymen, Alfian and Ardianto, guaranteeing an Indonesian Men’s Doubles pair for finals day.  

Other results
Axelsen looked back to his dominant self, beating Tsuneyama 21-11,21-10. He now faces 3rd seed Shi Yuqi tomorrow in the semi-final.

Kirsty Gilmour valiantly fought against world number one Tai Tzu Ying, but had no response to her incredible form, with the match ending 21-16, 21-11.

Perhaps a hangover from their great victory of 3rd seeds Li and Liu of China the day before, Russians Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov were unable to reach similar heights. Losing to 7th seeds from Japan, Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko, 21-17, 21-19. 

For the full results and fixture click here. 

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