Finnish International Challenge 2008

[Krisna]

Wahyu just lost to Peter Mikkelsen 15-21, 18-21

*I hate it when badMania is right* I thought the MS field should be ok for INA's MS in Finland...

[Krisna]

Maria Elfira is through! She defeated Anastasia Kudinova 21-17, 21-18. Still waiting for the winner of Anu Nieminen vs. Yu Wakita...

[huangkwokhau]

Maria vs Anu...good chance to semi
Frans/rendra are thru to QTR

[Krisna]

Fran-Rendra is through to the quarterfinals after defeating Klausen-Oma of Norway 21-7, 21-15 in 17 minutes. Honey-Lewis await them in the next round. Apparently, Fran-Rendra is the only seed left in the top draw... Tim Dettmann-Johannes Schoettler [1] and the pair who beat them in Poland, Adam Cwalina-Wojciech Szkudlardcyzk, are gone... I only recognize Mads Kolding's name in the top draw now. Mads was one of the top Danish [and European] Junior BD just a few years ago.

Fira will play Anu Nieminen tomorrow for a place in the semis... Anu was defeated by Sylvi Kurniawan pretty easily in Poland. But maybe with the home-crowd behind her, she might give Fira a hard time...

[huangkwokhau]

Fran-Rendra is through to the quarterfinals after defeating Klausen-Oma of Norway 21-7, 21-15 in 17 minutes. Honey-Lewis await them in the next round. Apparently, Fran-Rendra is the only seed left in the top draw...

Fira will play Anu Nieminen tomorrow for a place in the semis... Anu was defeated by Sylvi Kurniawan pretty easily in Poland. But maybe with the home-crowd behind her, she might give Fira a hard time...

Hope both are thru tomorrow.....

[Krisna]

Mel-Shendy have also advanced to the quarterfinals...
Shendy Puspa Irawati[INA]
Meiliana Jauhari[INA]
-
[SWE] Emelie Lennartsson
[SWE] Emma Wengberg

21-14 21-9 in 19 minutes

They will meet Mariana-Gabrielle of ENG in the quarters...

[huangkwokhau]

Mel-Shendy have also advanced to the quarterfinas...
Shendy Puspa Irawati[INA] Meiliana Jauhari[INA] -[SWE] Emelie Lennartsson[SWE] Emma Wengberg21-14 21-90:19

They will meet Mariana-Gabrielle of ENG in the quarters...

Another SF is likely....then meeting top seed from denmark...tough...

[badMania]

Mixed Doubles QF
Rizky Kurniawan/Qi Yu vs Fran Kurniawan/Shendy Puspa Irawati -- once again, Fran/Shendy's powers should be too much for their opponents to handle.

Women's Singles QF
Maria Elfira Christina vs Anu Nieminen [4] -- Fira to advance.

Men's Doubles QF
Fran Kurniawan/Rendra Wijaya [4] vs Matthew Honey/Martyn Lewis -- with the loss of the other 2 seeds in their half, it will be an excellent chance for Fran/Rendra to win another title here.

Women's Doubles QF
Mariana Agathangelou/Gabrielle White vs Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa Irawati -- Mel/Shendy should do well to progress to the SF, where they will meet the top seed Lena Frier-Kristensen/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl.

[badMania]

Wahyu just lost to Peter Mikkelsen 15-21, 18-21

*I hate it when badMania is right* I thought the MS field should be ok for INA's MS in Finland...

Hehehe...sorry bro.....the draw is pretty tough for them.

[badMania]

Great to receive news from Hau-Ge while over at Shenzhen a few hrs back that all the Djarum players have won their QF matches as expected and progressed to the SF.

Fran Kurniawan/Shendy Puspa Irawati have repeated their feat last week in qualifying for their second consecutive Final. They will face Mads Pieler Kolding/Line Damkjaer Kruse for their first title in XD tomorrow. I think they can do it!

Women's Singles Semi-Final
Maria Elfira Christina vs Elizabeth Cann [2] -- Elizabeth Cann beat the European-based Chinese player Li Wenyan, who has a good result in Europe herself, winning a few titles. I hope Fira can beat Cann.

Men's Doubles Semi-Final
Mikkel Elbjorn/Mads Pieler Kolding vs Fran Kurniawan/Rendra Wijaya [4] -- Fran/Rendra should make it to the Final as well and hopefully collect their second titles in Europe.

Women's Doubles Semi-Final
Lena Frier-Kristensen/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl [1] vs Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa Irawati -- Mel/Shendy have done well in Europe this past fortnight and a rubber-set loss to the top-seed will be considered a good enough result later.

[badMania]

Maria Elfira Christina lost to Elizabeth Cann in 3-sets 21-23, 21-19, 17-21.

Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa Irawati also pushed the top-seed Lena-Frier Kristensen/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl so hard and they could have won in the second set, but ended up losing in rubber-sets 21-18, 22-24, 15-21.

It was a tough fight to the end for Fran Kurniawan/Rendra Wijaya as they edged out a nail-biting 22-20, 13-21, 22-20 victory over the Danish pair Mikkel Elbjorn/Mads Pieler Kolding in 48 mins. They will face the top-seed Jacob Chemnitz/Mikkel Delbo Larsen in the Final tomorrow. They had beaten their opponent in the Dutch Open R16 last year.

So, Team Djarum for 2 titles tomorrow???

[badMania]

Mixed Doubles FINAL
11:00am Fran Kurniawan/Shendy Puspa Irawati vs Mads Pieler Kolding/Line Damkjaer Kruse -- an excellent chance for Fran/Shendy to establish themselves as INA's upcoming XD pair. They have both the power and aggression to rise up further!

Men's Doubles FINAL
Last match Fran Kurniawan/Rendra Wijaya [4] vs Jacob Chemitz/Mikkel Delbo Larsen [3] -- after the disappointment of going out in R32 last week, Fran/Rendra reedem themselves with a Final appearance tomorrow and they could well collect their second European Challenger titles.

[Krisna]

I still predict INA will win 1 or 2 titles in Finland... from MD, WD, and XD... most probably not from WS or MS...

With 2 INA finalist tomorrow and playing against worthy [yet beatable] opponents... I think there is a:

• 80% chance of INA bringing home 1 title
• 60% chance of INA bringing bagging 2 titles...

[Dreamzz]

playing 2 finals on the same day is tough, especially after playing 4 matches today! if fran manages to win 2 titles tomorrow, he really is an iron man.

[badMania]

With 2 INA finalist tomorrow and playing against worthy [yet beatable] opponents... I think there is a:

• 80% chance of INA bringing home 1 title
• 60% chance of INA bringing bagging 2 titles...

Yup...let's pray that Fran/Shendy and Fran/Rendra will bring home 2 titles.

Team Djarum certainly has a knack of doing well in Europe

[badMania]

playing 2 finals on the same day is tough, especially after playing 4 matches today! if fran manages to win 2 titles tomorrow, he really is an iron man.

Don't forget that BOTH Fran and Shendy had played a total of 7 matches (3 on Friday and 4 on Saturday) in the space of only 48 hrs

[Dreamzz]

superman, person of strength and glory ... come sing with me ...