Jakarta: Indonesia’s top men’s doubles players, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, failed to clinch a spot in the final round of the BCA Indonesia Super Series Premier Badminton Open on Saturday after they were defeated by Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan of China in the semifinal round 20-22, 21-18, 15-21.
Ahsan/Hendra went down 20-22 to the Chinese in the first set. The race to gather points became too tight with no side leaving a margin of no more than two before Ahsan/Hendra could finally finish the second set in their favor 21-18. At the end of third set, the Indonesians made some mistakes, giving the Fu/Zhang the opportunities to win the match by taking the third set 21-15.
“Our opponents often made mistakes, adding to our point collection,” Zhang Nan said.
Men’s doubles No. 1 seeds Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong suffered the same fate as last year’s World Championships final where they lost to compatriots Ko Sung-hyun/Shin Baek-choel in both encounters. Lee/Yoo failed to defend their BCA Indonesia Open title after they were sent packing by Ko/Shin 17-21, 18-21 in the men’s doubles semi-finals.
Indonesia however still has Nitya Krishnanda Maheswari/Greysia Polii to play in the final round. Nitya/Greysia advanced to the finals after defeating their Chinese opponents Yu Yang/Zhong Qianxin 20-22, 21-13, 21-14 earlier that day.
Indonesia’s mixed doubles duo Tontowi Ahmad (Owi)/Liliyana Natsir (Butet), also failed to advance to the finals earlier, having lost to Chinese pair Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei 21-16, 15-21, 18-21.
