Badminton: Owi/Butet Pair Advances To Semifinal Round

Jakarta, June 5 (Antara) - Indonesia's top mixed doubles pair Tontowi Yahya (Owi)/Liliyana Natsir (Butet) advanced to the semifinal round of the BCA Indonesia Super Series Premier Badminton Open here on Friday. Owi/Butet made it to the next round after beating Chinese pair Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin, 21-15, 21-18. Owi stated that the key to their victory was being relaxed and enjoying the match. "Firstly, we have really made good preparations. We were relaxed and just enjoyed the game while we stayed alert from the start till the end of the match," he noted. In the first game, the Indonesian pair faced no significant problems, beating their Chinese opponents. By combining strong smashes and drop shots, they ended the game, 21-15, in their favor. In the second game, they continued their dynamic performance, but the Chinese pair was able to put up a fight as they often chased and equalized. Butet admitted to have committed several errors in the second game. "In the second game, we made no change, but indeed, I often made errors," she revealed. She acknowledged that the mistakes occurred, as she often rushed to attack, but the situation could have even changed in favor of her opponents. The world's third-best mixed doubles pair however managed to finally win the game, 21-18. Tontowi/Liliyana are scheduled to meet the winners of the match between Zhang Nan/Zhao Yuniee and Christ Adcok/Gabrielly Adcock. Earlier, Indonesia's women's doubles pair Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii also advanced to the semifinal round after beating Chinese pair Luo Ying/Luo Yu, 21-15, 23-21. "Thank God, we could clear the quarterfinals. We indeed had prepared ourselves well before playing, with our coach reminding us to implement the strategy and control ourselves well and not to rush in the game," Greysia stated after the match. The two players are scheduled to meet the winners of the match between Yu Fang/Zhong Qianzin from China and Christina Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl from Denmark in the evening. "For the semifinal round, we must be more mature and calmer and play without any burden," Greysia added.