Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Taufik Hidayat have both gone through to set up an all-Indonesian semifinal match at the Djarum Indonesian Open badminton championships, but other quarterfinal matches on Friday saw more local contenders exit the stage. Sony came from a game down to defeat Yan Kit Chan of Hong Kong 18-21, 21-17, 21-10 at the Istora Sports Hall. It was also a three-game tussle between Taufik and his old foe Peter Gade of Denmark, with the Indonesian star triumphing 21-19, 8-21, 22-20. The winner from the match between Sony and Taufik will face either Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia or Chen Jin of China, who will meet in the other semifinal match on Saturday. Chong Wei, the world No. 1, eased past Park Sung-hwan of South Korea 21-19, 21-13, while Chen Jin booked his place after beating compatriot and world No. 2 Lin Dan 18-21, 21-17, 21-4. World No. 1 men's doubles pairing Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan also cruised through, but that was it for the local hopes. No more. Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir, the world No. 1 mixed doubles pairing and the top seeds at the tournament, went down to China's Zheng Bo and Ma Jin 21-17, 21-18. Luluk Hadiyanto and Joko Riyadi fell to Malaysia's Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 21-11, 17-21, 21-11, while Maria Febe Kusumastuti became last Indonesian women's singles player to exit, after losing to China's Wan Ling 21-11, 21-10. Kido and Hendra eased through to the semifinals after beating compatriots Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Alvent Yulianto 21-19, 21-11. "We decided to attack them from the start of the game. So they failed to develop their performance through the game," Kido and Hendra said after the match on Friday. "This is our revenge after our loss in Malaysia," said Kido, referring to the semifinal of the 2009 Malaysia Super Series earlier this year. They will go on to meet sixth seeds Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea in the semifinals on Saturday. "It will be a tiring fight with the Koreans," Kido predicted. While the meeting between the world's top two pairs promises to be a fierce fight, the fans may look forward to a match between Sony and Taufik, a rivalry brought over from the national training camp before Taufik decided to resign in January. "We haven't trained together in six years. I have no idea how he is now, but he must be improving his game," Taufik said of Sony. Taufik put nationality in the top spot. "Whoever wins the match, we must be relieved that one of us will be in the final," he said. Against Gade, Taufik had a match point before winning the deuce. "I gave away the second game. Once I felt tired I did not forced myself to go for a win," he said referring to the second game in which he only collected 8 points. Meanwhile, Sony had to regroup his nerves before holding off Yan Kit's resilience. "The third game was our mental testing affair. I am grateful for the crowd's support," said Sony, who is looking for back-to-back titles. In the women's singles, Lu Lan will meet Indian sixth seed Saina Nehwal in the semifinal, while eighth seed Xie Xingfang, who beat Japanese prodigy Sayaka Sato, will meet Wang Lin in the all-Chinese semifinal match.
