Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Photo Djarum Badminton)
Indonesia’s rising men’s doubles stars Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin provided the turning point as they edged Malaysia 3-2 to top Group D of the men’s team competition at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao.
Holders China, fielding a young squad were also stretched by Thailand before crapping through 3-2 in their Group A tie.
Both the other top of the table clashes also ended 32 to the winners, with Korea bating Chinese Taipei in Group B andJapan edging India in Group C.
Trailing 2-1 going into the do-or-die second doubles match, Raymond-Nikolaus showed their pedigree to come back from game down to pull Indonesia back in contention.
The pair, both 20-years-old, battled past Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal 16-21, 21-11, 21-19 in a grueling match that lasted almost an hour.
The win paved the way for the experienced Anthony Sinisuka Ginting to deliver against unheralded Kong Wei Xiang in the deciding second doubles match.
Wei Xiang gave his all but just did not have the extra push as Anthony took the game that lasted just over an hour 21-17, 13-21, 21-16 and with it a morale boosting win in the group tie.
Both teams, however, are already through to the quarter-finals.
Earlier, Justin Hoh gave Malaysia a dream start, defeating newly crowned Thailand Masters champion Moh Zakl Ubaidillah 21-16, 21-19 in the opening singles. It was Justin’s first win over the Indonesian in three meetings.
Justin had lost to Moh Zaki at both the Thailand Masters and the SEA Games team event last year.
Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King then pulled off a stunning 21-13, 12-21, 21-13 defeat of another newly crowned Thailand Masters champions Leo Rolly Carnando-Bagas Maulana in a match that lasted 50-minutes.
With the pressure on Prahdiska Bagas Shujiwo carved out a hard-earned 21-12, 14-21, 21-15 win over Eogene Ewe to give Indonesia a lifeline in a tie that was slipping away from their hands.
Eogene had also lost to Prahdiska in their only other meeting at the Austrian Open two years ago.
The quarter-finals will see China playing Chinese Taipei with Korea taking on India while Malaysia plays Japan and Thailand battling against Indonesia.
In the women’s quarter-finals, China will play India, Japan against Chinese Taipei, Indonesia against Thailand and Malaysia squaring off against Korea.
Defending champions India went down 2-3 to Thailand in their second Group Y encounter conceding the top spot in the group to their opponents.
Despite the loss, both India and Thailand advanced to the knockout stage, with Thailand finishing as group leaders and India settling for second place.
GROUP RESULTS
MEN’S
GROUP A: China bt Thailand 3-2
GROUP B: Korea bt Chinese Taipei 3-2
GROUP C: Japan bt India 3-2
GROUP D: Indonesia bt Malaysia 3-2
WOMEN’S
GROUP X: Japan bt Indonesia 3-2
GROUP Y: Korea bt Chinese Taipei 4-1
GROUP Z: Thailand bt India
