Malang: No. 2 seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia sailed into Indonesian Masters final with a comprehensive 21-18, 21-18 beat down of compatriot Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo in 35 minutes on Saturday. Not only had Sugiarto improved his head-to-head record against Prasetyo to 3-0 after Saturday’s victory, the victory could potentially push Sugiarto who is currently ranked World No. 12 to world’s top 10 before the year end.
In other men’s semi-final, Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth is showing signs of having regained his old form as the top seed needed just 37 minutes to oust local player Ginting Anthony 21-13, 21-19 in the semifinal, played at the Gedung Graha Cakrawala. With the win, Srikanth has levelled his head-to-head record with Cakrawala to 1-1.
It’s believed that Sugiarto has the upper against Srikanth in final as the Indonesian had maintained a 2-1 in their career meetings.
Indonesia have sent representatives for every category in the final except women’s singles. He Bingjiao will set up an all-Chinese women’s singles final against Chen Yufei on Sunday.
Indonesians Berry Angriawan/Ryan Agung Saputra defeated compatriots Hendra Aprida Gunawan/Markis Kido 21-23, 21-17, 21-15 and will battle Chai Biao/Hong Wei of China for the men’s doubles title; while mixed doubles top seeds Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir will clash with teammates Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto on Sunday.
Meanwhile, it would be interesting to see how unseeded Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang would fare under the intense challenge by home favorites and No. 1 seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii of Indonesia in the women’s doubles final.
