Tantowi, Liliyana grab India Open trophy Tantowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia brought home mixed doubles’ trophy of Sunrise-Yonex India Open superseries badminton tournament in New Delhi on Sunday after outclassing compatriots Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth. The event’s fourth seed Tantowi and senior player Liliyana, who grabbed silver medalist of Beijing Olympics in 2008 with Nova Widianto, managed to conquer junior pair Fran and Pia 21-18, 23-21. Liliyana said that she was optimistic she would get along with new partner Tantowi. “But, we still have a long journey to walk on. We should not be satisfied of what we have gained today just yet. “We need to stay focus because there are a lot of matches to come,” Liliyana said in a text message after the bout. Indonesian mixed doubles’ coach Richard Maenaky said that he was proud of what his shuttlers did in India Open. “They performed well as taught during training sessions. The maximum target was actually just reaching semifinals.” --------------------------------------------------------- Read the full article here : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/02/tantowi-liliyana-grab-india-open-trophy.html
Tantowi, Liliyana Win Mixed Doubles Title in India Open Indonesia’s doubles jinx in the Super Series officially came to an end on Sunday when Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir clinched the mixed doubles title at the India Open. There was no doubt the country would win its first doubles event in the Super Series in nearly 16 months, as the final at New Delhi’s Siri Fort Complex featured two Indonesian teams. In the end, however, it was Tontowi and Liliyana who prevailed, beating Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth 21-18, 23-21. Liliyana had given Indonesia its last mixed doubles title in the top-tier Badminton World Federation series when she and Nova Widianto bagged the French Open in November 2009. Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan also won the men’s doubles title in Paris. That was the last time an Indonesian pair won in the Super Series. The India Open nearly followed the same script, but Angga Pratama and Ryan Agung Saputra’s incredible run in men’s doubles was halted in the final. The two 20-year-olds lost 21-17, 21-9 to Japan’s Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata. Liliyana said familiarity with the opponent gave them an edge. “We’ve faced them a number of times, so we know each others’ style,” Liliyana said. “Whoever was ready, won. And I believe we were ready for them.” When the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) decided to partner world champion Liliyana with the younger Tontowi last season, it was this type of result that it had in mind, although it took a little longer than anyone wanted for the partnership to pay dividends. Before the India Open, Tontowi and Liliyana had not advanced past the quarterfinals in three top-tier events this season. They were booted in the first round of the Malaysia Open, the quarterfinals of the Korean Open Super Series Premier and the second round of the All-England. To advance to the New Delhi final, Tontowi and Liliyana beat fellow Indonesians Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto. Tontowi and Liliyana were ahead 21-17, 15-9 when Rijal retired with an injured hip. Fran and Pia beat Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh 21-12, 21-16 in Saturday’s other semifinal. Liliyana said winning her first Super Series title with Tontowi was “important” to her teammate’s morale. “It will give him more confidence to play in our next tournaments,” Liliyana said. “We’ve come a long way, I believe, and I hope we can achieve more and peak at the right time as we prepare for the Olympics next year.” ------------------------------------------------------------------ Read the full article here : http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/badm...-win-mixed-doubles-title-in-india-open/438469
Their second final in two weeks, hope Butet will retain her Mas GPG title with different partner(last year partner with Devin) and break top 4 by next week!
Congrats.. back to back title for them as they wins the Malaysia GPG 2011 title, next week they will become World No 4 with 57240 points.
Today is also the first time they beat a non-INA pair in the Final and also the first tourney in which they didn't have to meet any INA team-mates. Previously, all the pairs they faced in the Final were INA pairs and their victories in the INA GPG and India SS last week featured mostly INA pairs.
Tantowi gained more confidence after their first SS title I think. Lilyana still not as good as last time. Anyway, I believe that they are clear-cut better than the 'decent' pairs like Sudket/Saralee, Songphon/Kunchala, Fran/Pia, Lee/Chien, CPS/GLY. However, still some work to go before attaining the next level of ZN/ZYL, etc. Need to be more consistent to beat those pairs, they are already there but they need to keep focus, they tend to throw away big leads.
http://tempointeraktif.com/hg/raket/2011/05/31/brk,20110531-337994,id.html "Actually Liliyana also still in recovery phase. Players who are familiar with Butet suffer an elbow injury which kept her out at the Sudirman Cup. However, Oka said, Butet will begin to return to the field at the Singapore Super Series in the next 14 to June 19"
Not fully revover yet, Butet will play JAKARTA, Kompas.com - Doubles specialists Liliyana Natsir is ready to perform in Singapore Super Series next week despite the injury "tennis elbow" on her right elbow has not fully recovered. "It's passable but not a hundred percent healed, probably about 70-80 percent. For shock movements still felt pain in her muscles," said Liliyana when met here on Monday. Mixed doubles players, Tontowi Ahmad's partner began to feel the injury while playing in India and Malaysia Super Series Grand Prix in late April to early May, which led to two titles for this pair. Injuries that make Liliyana can not strengthen the Indonesian Sudirman Cup team that competed in Qingdao, China, in late May, which ended in the semifinals. At the Singapore Open which took place June 14 to 19, Tontowi / Liliyana be seeded fourth and will initiate action against qualifying pair. If successfully reached the quarter-finals, the pair who won the first Super Series title in India was likely to meet top-seeded Zhang Nan / Zhao Yunlei from China. "For Singapore, in my opinion is still less preparation because they have to break due to injury, but as a senior player who was supposed to I was able to overcome these problems, "said Liliyana that hope, she and her partner can demonstrate self-confidence that has been obtained in the tournament India and Malaysia. Two-time world champion when she was paired with Nova Widianto was also expected, Tontowi not easily satisfied and willing to train hard because there are many opponents who have never faced. "In Singapore, his opponent is more complete, there is a meeting in India and Malaysia, but some have not been met such as Joachim Fischer Nielsen / Christinna Pedersen (Denmark) and several Chinese pairs," he said. For the Indonesia Open, which was held at Istora Bung Karno, June 21 to 26, Liliyana hoping mixed doubles sector can contribute a title. Tontowi / Liliyana are paired before the Asian Games last year, has collected four titles - one Super Series and three Grand Prix Gold - and is now ranked fifth of the world. http://olahraga.kompas.com/read/2011/06/06/1558044/Belum.Pulih.Butet.Tetap.Tampil
I also now have a tennis elbow problem for the last 3 months or so, its so bloody annoying. It affect so much on stregth and just like Butet said its also feel painful when executing snapping stroke.
