JAKARTA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia had two men's doubles pairs in the quarterfinals on Friday, making them the nation's only hope to seize a title of Indonesia Open badminton tournament this year.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo sealed their semifinal berth after winning their easy match against Chinese contenders Ou Xuanyi/Zhang Nan that lasted in half an hour with scores of 21-12 and 21-16.
Marcus and Kevin will take on another Chinese pair Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen who thrashed compatriots He Jiting/Tan Qiang 21-17, 21-12 in the quarter-finals.
Indonesian Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan also qualified after defeating Japanese Yuta Watanabe/Hiroyuki Endo, 21-15, 9-21, 22-20.
"Thank God that we can pass through this crucial match. We won first, but our opponent can turn the situation down (in the second game), later on we can get it back," Ahsan told a press conference on the sidelines of the quarter-final match in Jakarta's landmark badminton arena here.
Indonesian players failed to qualify in other events.
2018 Asian Games gold medalist Jonatan Christie was stopped by Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in the men's singles by 21-16, 18-21 and 14-21.
In the mixed doubles, Indonesia's only pair Tantowi Ahmad/Winny Oktavina Kandow were sent out by Malaysian opponents Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying by 11-21, 21-14 and 14-21.
