Indonesian Shuttlers Receive First Dose of Defeat

After a good two days, Indonesia endured its first casualties at the Badminton World Championship in Hyderabad, India.

Adrianti Firdasari was the first to depart, losing 21-17, 21-8 to women’s singles No. 7 seed Lu Lan of China during Wednesday’s second round.

Bona Septano and Mohammad Ahsan followed suit, losing 22-24, 21-10, 21-9 to China’s Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen in men’s doubles.

That loss left Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki and Rian Sukmawan as Indonesia’s last hope in men’s doubles. Yonathan and Rian cruised into the round of 16 by dispatching Ukraine’s Valeriy Atrashchenkov and Georgiy Natarov 21-6, 21-6 in 15 minutes.

Maria Kristin Yulianti stayed alive in women’s singles, beating No. 15 seed Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-11, 21-11 to set up a third-round match against eighth-seeded Pi Hongyan of France.

Men’s singles set the pace for Indonesia, led by Sony Dwi Kuncoro’s 21-12, 21-13 defeat of Poland’s Przemyslaw Wacha.

“I think I played better than yesterday. I just have to focus in every match,” the 2007 runner-up told the Jakarta Globe. “[Wacha] has a good smash, so I didn’t give him many high balls and drew him to play in front of the net.”

Sony will face either No. 15 seed Chetan Anand of India or Stillian Makarski of Bulgaria in the third round.

“If I meet Anand, it will be a tough match because he’ll get all the support he needs. But I know I can beat him,” Sony said.

Fourth-seeded Taufik Hidayat did not work up much of a sweat during his second-round match, beating Mathieu Lo Ying Ping of France 21-17, 21-15 in 30 minutes.

“[Lo] was a better opponent than my first one [Christian Boesiger of Switzerland], so the match was tougher,” Taufik told state-run news agency Antara. “But I know that it will get harder each day so I have to keep playing at my best from the start.”

The 2005 world champion will play ninth-seeded Hsieh Yu Hsing of Taiwan, who narrowly avoided an upset bid by Hong Kong’s Ng Wei before winning 24-22, 20-22, 21-18.

Simon Santoso, meanwhile, had a much harder time than his two compatriots. It took the 13th seed almost an hour to oust Singapore’s Derek Wong Zi Liang 21-13, 19-21, 21-16.

“I lost control of the match in the second game and made many mistakes,” Simon said.

Simon now faces Japan’s Kenichi Tago, who defeated Marc Zwiebler of Germany, 21-15, 21-10. Tago stunned the field when he ousted Danish No. 7 seed Joachim Persson in the opening round.

In late action, Shendy Puspa Irawati and Meiliana Jauhari outlasted Malaysia’s Fong Chew Yen and Mooi Hing Yau 14-21, 21-13, 21-18 in women’s doubles. They next face No. 6 seeds Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli of China.

Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii went to three sets against Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito of Japan, winning Game 2 21-15 after losing the first 21-19. Their match ended after press time.