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Fab 4 Indonesia's Last Hope in England
March 11, 2011

Lin Dan of China on his way to a win over Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka at the All England on Thursday in Birmingham. (AFP Photo) Lin Dan of China on his way to a win over Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka at the All England on Thursday in Birmingham. (AFP Photo)
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Indonesia’s hope of ending an All England title drought stretching back to 2003 now rests with just four men as the competition moves into the quarterfinal stage.

Its best chance comes in the shape of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, the fourth-seeded men’s doubles pair.

They cruised to a 21-14, 21-13 second-round win over Japan’s Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Thursday to move into the last eight.

Also through to the last eight are Bona Septano and Mohammad Ahsan, the eighth-seeded men’s doubles pair, who edged Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas of India, 21-16, 21-16.

Hendra, who only recently recovered from a knee injury he suffered in November, is clearly enjoying his return as he also qualified for the quarterfinals in the mixed doubles with his Russian partner, Anastasia Russkikh. They beat Taiwan’s Chen Hung Ling and Cheng Wen Hsing, 21-15, 21-13 in the second round.

“I’m feeling good now, though I sometimes feel a slight pain in my knee,” the 26-year-old Hendra said. “I’ll keep doing my best and let’s just see what happens.”

Markis and Hendra were due to face longtime rivals Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong on Friday, but their match ended after press time. They have won just four of their nine meetings with the Malaysians, but did come out victorious in their last encounter, in the final of the 2010 Asian Games.

“We know each other very well, so we’ll have to play our best,” Markis said.

After winning the world championship in 2007 and Olympic gold in 2008, the All England is the only major title to still elude the pair.

Bona, Markis’s younger brother, and Ahsan were due to meet China’s Chai Biao and Guo Zhendong in their quarterfinal on Friday, also after press time.

In the mixed doubles, Hendra and Russkikh were scheduled to meet Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark for a place in the semifinals.

It wasn’t all good news for Indonesia on Thursday, though. Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, the No. 7 seeds in the mixed doubles, were upset by the unseeded German pair of Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels, losing 14-21, 21-19, 21-14.

In the men’s singles, Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka made a second-round exit at the hands of China’s four-time All England champion, Lin Dan, losing 21-11, 21-17.

World champion Chen Jin became the second big name, after second seed Taufik Hidayat, to be shown the door in the men’s singles when he lost 21-18, 22-20 to the unheralded Marc Zwiebler of Germany.

“I didn’t expect to lose,” Chen said. “But I wasn’t in good form today.”

Zwiebler was due to meet Kazushi Yamada, the young Japanese player who ousted Taufik, in Friday’s quarterfinal.

Also in the men’s singles, an angry Lee Chong Wei stormed off without talking to journalists after receiving little notice of his impending second-round match.

The defending champion from Malaysia was only told he was playing China’s Bao Chunlai an hour in advance, and had to hurry from his hotel and compete without proper preparation.

Despite this, Lee pulled off a very creditable 21-16, 21-16 victory over the dangerous Bao, who was within one point of reaching last year’s final.


Antara, AFP