GUANGZHOU, KOMPAS.com - Two of Indonesia’s leading men’s doubles Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, Muhammad Ahsan and Chandra, already won a ticket for the semifinals after defeating their rivals at Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, on Thursday.
Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan seeded in second place advanced to the semifinals beating their rival from China Taipei Chen Hung Ling and Lin Yu Lang in three sets 17-21, 21-12, 21-13. While their compatriots Mohammad Ahsan and Chandra surprisingly crushed fourth seed host China Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen also in three sets 14-21, 21-19, 21-16.
"The success of Ahsan and Chandra was a true surprise as they teamed up only recently but were very compact and solid and beat the Chinese strongest pair enjoying a much higher ranking," Indonesian batminton team manager Yacob Rusdianto said.
With the result, the Indonesian team practically secured a bronze. And an all Indonesian final in the men’s doubles is no dream. The Indonesian team manager said the key to the success of the Ahsan/Chandra pair lies in the their fighting spirit, although they have no world ranking, the two rise and overcome their strong opponents Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen.
While Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan already have a ticket to face Korea’s third seed Chung Je and Lee Y. Another Indonesian hope for a gold is Taufik Hidayat who will be playing in the quarterfinals against Park Sunghwan of Korea.
"Taufik has a big chance to reach the semifinals, because who had always beaten Park in his past matches," Yacob said.
In the meantime, the struggle of the Indonesian team at the Tianhe Gymnasium is also witnessed by former KONI general chairman Agum Gumelar who went to Guangzhou to give support to the Indonesian team.
source : kompas.com
source : kompas.com
