Malaysian badminton ace Lee Chong Wei yesterday cruised into the final of the Indonesian Open, but women’s world number one Carolina Marin suffered a shock defeat.
Lee beat Indonesian opponent Ihsan Maulana Mustofa with ease, winning the semi-final 21-9, 21-18 in 39 minutes despite the home player having strong support from the loudly cheering crowd. Despite the loss, unseeded Mustofa said he was happy that he made it to the semifinal of the tournament, which is seen as a warm-up for the Rio Olympics in August.
“I can learn much from playing against a great player like Lee Chong Wei,” he said. Lee, seeded second in the open, is on course for his sixth Indonesian Open crown. He will face fifth seed Jan O Jorgensen in today’s final, after the Dane beat China’s Tian Houwei, 21-14 18-21 21-17.
The number one and three seeds – Chinese players Chen Long and Lin Dan – went out earlier in the tournament. There was a major upset as Spaniard Marin, the number one seed in the women’s singles, lost in a tough showdown against fourth seed Wang Yihan from China in their semifinal.
Marin won the first set with relative ease but nerves got the better of her in the second, and she went on to lose 16-21, 21-11, 21-17. “I’m disappointed,” Marin told reporters after the match. “I started really good and I was very focused on what I have to do in the game, but in the second set I was nervous.”
Wang will face unseeded Taiwanese star Tai Tzu-ying in the finals. More than 7,000 badminton fans were watching the competition at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.