Indonesia's Badminton Women Make Semifinals As Men Grab Spot in KL

Friday was a good day for Indonesian shuttlers in the Thomas and Uber Cup Asian zone qualifying rounds.

The women's team moved into the semifinals, while the men qualified for the final, which also earned them a ticket to the tournament proper in Kuala Lumpur, which takes place May 9 to 16.

The top three men's and women's teams in the qualifiers will go through to Kuala Lumpur, while the fourth-place teams can also qualify if they have a better world ranking than the fourth-place teams from the European zone.

The women topped Group X in style after a 4-1 victory over top-seeded South Korea in their last group match in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on Friday.

In the semifinals on Saturday, Indonesia will meet an emerging force in the region, India, which finished second in Group Y with a 3-2 victory over Taiwan. Meanwhile, the Koreans will face Japan in the other semifinal.

"We'll definitely play our heart out against India, as we want to go to the final and get the ticket to Kuala Lumpur," the secretary general of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Jacob Rusdianto, said on Friday.

India, he said, has performed very well during the qualifying round, but Indonesia has also shown improvement.

Adriyanti Firdasari kick-started the victory as she beat Bae Sung-hee 21-17, 15-21, 21-15 in the first match, and doubles Greysiaa Polii and Meiliana Jauhari made it 2-0 with a 21-15, 21-14 defeat of Kim Min-jung and Ha Jung-eun.

South Korea pulled one back as Bae Youn-joo defeated Maria Febe Kusumastuti 21-10, 21-14. But Indonesia's victory was secured in the next match as Liliyana Natsir and Shendy Puspa Irawati posted a 21-12, 16-21, 21-15 win over Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung.

Aprilia Yuswandari completed the victory with a 21-18, 21-10 defeat of Sung Ji-hyun.

The men's team strolled to a 3-0 win over Japan in the semifinals. Taufik Hidayat beat Kenichi Tago 21-16, 21-23, 21-18, then Markis Kido and Alvent Yulianto Chandra got the second point with 21-17, 21-19 defeat of Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata. Sony Dwi Kuncoro clinched the victory with a 21-18, 21-11 win over Sho Sasaki.

Indonesia plays South Korea in Saturday's final after the Koreans beat India 4-1.

Source from Jakarta Globe

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