Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian mixed doubles duo Tontowi Ahmad/Winny Oktavina Kandow (Owi/Winny) suffered defeat in the hands of Malaysian pair Goh Liu Ying/Chan Peng Soon in the quarter-final round of the 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open on Friday.

Owi/Winny, Indonesia's last ray of hope in the mixed doubles category that qualified for the quarter-finals, gave a tough fight, lasting an hour, before giving up three games to the fifth-seed pair, 11-21, 21-14, 14-21.

The Malaysian pair immediately stormed into the first game, leaving Owi/Winny little room, thereby resulting in many bad return shots and loss of several points.

Owi/Winny began chasing the opponents until they were ahead at the second game interval, with a score of 11-8, despite yet being jittery about returning the shots.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian pair maintained its composure through the game.

Indonesia was able to maintain its lead and close the second game owing to the opponent's error in returning the shot on two occasions.

The last game turned out to be a tightly fought one, with Owi/Winny regaining ground and dictating their opponents with swift attacks to force Goh to fall on the court, when the score was 9-all.

However, two failed returns from Tontowi gave a much-needed edge to Malaysia at the interval of the game.

Thereafter, Malaysia's pair went on full throttle, delivering sharp shots that made Owi/Winny slog harder to return them and lost momentum until the opponents closed the determining game, with a seven-point margin.

Tontowi, when paired with Liliyana Natsir, who retired earlier this year, was the defending champion in the Indonesian mixed category in the last two years.

Owi when paired with Butet had won 11 times and lost once to the Malaysian pair.

In the semi-finals, Deputy Goh/Chan will meet China's second seed Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping, who had earlier defeated Malaysian pair Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie.

Translator: Aditya Eko/Eliswan Azly
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019