The local women are holding up the Kiwi flag as the US$50,000 KLRC New Zealand Badminton Open moved into the semifinal stage at the North Shore Events Centre.
Into the last four are the North Harbour duo of Jessica Jonggowisastro who accounted for another local Melissa Leviana in straight games while Rachel Hindley is also into the semis, but it’s the teenage Jonggowisastro who has the assignment of her short badminton career so far. She now plays world No2 Zhou Mi from Hong Kong who is ranked 138 places higher and in cruise control at the tournament.
To say Mi looks relaxed is an understatement as she toyed for a little while with her opponent Mudukasan Sutheaswari of Malaysia who then fought her way into the match a little before Mi won the contest 21-17 21-5 in 25 minutes.
If Mi defends her title she will retake the world No1 spot and continue a fine 18 months on the circuit. Jonggowisastro wasn’t able to watch her opponent play as she had to race away to the Auckland Secondary School Sports Awards where she was to receive a prize.
Meanwhile Hindley who seems to have been playing at the top level for a long while, but is still many years away from 30 quietly slipped through the draw without too much fuss; despite holding down a fulltime job she dispatched Indonesia’s Melicia Kurniawan in straight games to set up a clash with Australia Renuga Veeran who beat Waikato’s Amanda Brown in straight games. A win over Veeran would see her equal her best result of the year where she made the finals of the Oceania champs. However being a finalist at the KLRC Grand Prix event holds more prestige, prizemoney and ranking points.
The news was not so good for the New Zealand men as Olympian John Moody was beaten by top seed and 2005 winner Sariul Ayob of Malaysia in straight games. The loss means Moody has a 0-4 record against Ayob, however the Kiwi had his chances but wasn’t able to capitalise on them in the second game where he had a slight lead. Eventually the Malaysian won 21-15 21-16.
Also through to the semis is fourth seed Yu Hsin Hsieh from Taipei who had a tough battle against fifth seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia and will face Ayob in the semis. The champion from 2006, third seed Tsuen Seng Lee(Malaysia) won his match over Hu He Maoni in straight games with ruthless efficiency and looks set to play seventh seed Alistair Casey of Scotland who defeated North Harbour's Dean Nuttall in straight games.
There was some up and down results in the doubles draws with John Gordon and Dan Shirley playing a fast-paced match against the top seeds from Indonesia Lingga Lie and Fernando Kurniawan before the home team went down 21-11 21-18 looking just a few games short of where they would have liked to have been; neither Dan or John having played a lot of badminton in recent months
The final contest of the night is always going to go three games. That’s just the rule of badminton. However last evening’s game was well worth staying for as the duo of Henry Tam and Kevin Dennerly-Minturn took on Soon Kit Cheah and Beng Teong Ong of Malaysia. Going on appearances and seeding the Kiwis who were ranked third were perhaps the expected pair to win. However nothing beats experience and comedy, Cheah and Ong who were heroes in 1988 in the Thomas Cup semifinals for their nation dropped the first game of their match but came back to win in three. What they lack in pace around the court didn’t matter as the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. Who knows what they might do against the top seeds.
The other men’s semi features the Taipei pair of Hung Ling Chen and Yu Lang Lim against second seeds from Indonesia Wifqi Windarto and Afiat Yuris Wirawan.
In the mixed there’s a sort of local flavor as John Moody teams up with the out-of-retirement Australian Kate Wilson-Smith. The pair beat Wu and Danielle Barry in straight games in the quarters and now play the top seeds Hung Ling Chen Chia Chi Chou(Taipei) who earlier in the tournament had put out Shirley and Renee Flavell.
The Kiwi interest in the women’s doubles is with Hindley and Flavell who take on the top seeded Malaysians Chiou Hwee Haw and Pek Siah in what could be a close contest.
Last Modified on 14/11/2008 22:54