Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa surge into Mixed Doubles semi-final: Indonesia Open GP Gold
Indonesia’s talented couple of Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa cheered the home crowd as they reserved a place in the Mixed Doubles semi-final of the Indonesia Open GP Gold, in Indonesia.
The Widianto and Marissa defeated Japan’s Shoji Sato and Shizuka Matsuo in the quarter-final fight. They worked really well and overpowered the Japanese shuttlers in three games by taking 46 minutes.
The start of the first game was not good for the Indonesian couple as they failed to play positive badminton against the spirited Japanese duo, which were employing variations in their strokes.
Widianto and Marissa were struggling to find some sort of flow, but failed as their opponents were playing with aggression and precision. The Indonesians lost the opening set with a considerable gap of 15-21 in 18 minutes.
The Indonesian couple played completely different badminton in the second set. They remained in wonderful control and their smashes were finding their way into the gaps. The Japanese shuttlers found themselves helpless against the power-play of the Indonesians.
Widianto and Marissa levelled the match by finishing the second set by a wonderful gap of 21-11 in just 12 minutes.
Both sides progressed closely in the third game by playing with aggression. Until the break, Widianto and Marissa managed a small gap of 11-9. However, they stretched their lead after the one-minute break by playing a fast and accurate game.
The Japanese couple tried to play with pace but made many unforced errors as they hit the bird into the net. They also failed to return the powerful smashes executed by their rivals, who were enjoying the support of a huge home crowd.
Widianto and Marissa destroyed the hopes of the Japanese duo by winning the third game with a comfortable margin of 21-15 in 16 minutes. The end result of this 46-minute rubber-game fight was 15-21, 21-11 and 21-15.
In the Mixed Doubles semi-final showdown, Widianto and Marissa will play against World Number Five pair of Xu Chen and Ma Jin of China. The Chinese couple thrashed Maneepong Jongjit and Savitree Amitapai of Thailand in the quarter-final.
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