In men’s singles, a new generation of stars is definitely born: Kenichi Tago, Jan Jorgensen and Simon Santoso were the authors of brilliant wins against more experienced players. The small Chinese contingent on hand in Jakarta scored a perfect 10 with all shuttlers going through to the next round.

The only top Indonesians who had to say goodbye to the Indonesia Open today were Alvent Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto who went down to Korean juniors Ko Sung Hyun-Kwon Yi Goo in a close three-game match.

World champions Markis Kidos-Hendra Setiawan moved ahead as well as the younger pair of Muhammad Ahsan-Bono Septano. The Indo-American pair of Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya also earned a spot in the top 8 of the draw.

In singles, qualifier Alamsyah Yunus’ amazing run was terminated by Ronald Susilo of Singapore. Five matches in three days proved too much for the young Indonesian who couldn’t keep up the tempo in the final game and lost to the Singaporean 18-21, 21-18, 6-21.

Things weren’t as easy for Sony Dwi Kuncoro who, despite being a faster mover than his opponent, survived a scare against Joachim Persson of Denmark. In one of the day’s many three-setters – a definite sign of a strong draft in the stadium - the world championships runner-up prevailed 18-21, 21-16, 19-21 in the end, much to the relief of the home fans.

Young sensations Kenichi Tago, Simon Santoso and Jan Jorgensen all have beaten veteran players to take three of the available spots in the upper half of the men’s singles draw. Whilst Kenichi Tago easily dispatched of Hong Kong veteran Ng Wei, Jan Jorgensen had a much tougher time against training partner and sixth seed Peter Gade.

Despite the Indonesian fans’ uncanny ability to follow many matches at the same time, the young Dane Jan Jorgensen’s sensational win over his compatriot went almost unnoticed as all eyes were on matches involving the top Indonesian players. Jorgensen shook the umpire’s hand as the author of one of the day’s most spectacular wins with a 51-minute 21-19, 13-21, 21-17 victory.

An elated Jorgensen had troubles finding words after his triumph: “It’s of course an unbelievable feeling to beat Peter Gade. As a young player, I used to look up to him and now I beat him here for the first time. It’s just amazing. As a bonus, I now have a chance to make it to the semi-final stage of a Super Series and all this after entering the tournament as a qualifier,” said Jorgensen.

“I’ve played only once against my next opponent - Kenichi Tago - but it went well even though it was just for a set. At least one of us young players will make it to a semi-final, which is great news for the game,” remarked the still shaken Dane after the match.

On the women’s doubles front, local Djarum players Shendy Puspa Irawati and Meiliana Jauhari got the better of second seeds Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota of Japan. With the help of the thousand-strong vocal supporters, the Indonesians’ attack proved to be superior to their opponents’ defence. The Indonesians found inspiration from the support of the crowd and smashed their way through one of the biggest upsets of their career.

‘Honestly, we couldn’t feel a thing during the match. We just had to fight harder as the match went on and it worked in the end. Ogura and Shiota being one of the top 10 pairs in the world, we knew we mustn’t lose stamina and the atmosphere really helped. Our next match should also be a tough one but we’re looking forward to it,” added the cheerful Indonesians.

The women’s doubles was the scene of another all-Danish upset when Helle Nielsen and Lene Koppen’s daughter Marie Roepke ousted Kamilla Rytter-Juhl and Lene Frier with a score of 23-21, 17-21, 21-18.

In mixed doubles, Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa had to gather all their strength to overcome compatriots Muhammad Rijal and Greysia Polii 16-21, 21-18, 23-21 in one of the day’s closest match-ups.

Maria Kristin Yulianti was all smiles after her convincing win of 21-14, 21-19 over Netherland’s Chinese-born Yao Jie. The Indonesian - still recovering from a nagging leg injury sustained at the Swiss Open in March – is nevertheless optimistic for her next match against Zhou Mi of Hong Kong: "I have nothing to lose and I will work very hard on my defence."

In one of the last matches of the night, Nguyen Tien Minh once again proved he is a force to be reckoned with as he rattled top seed Bao Chunlai in one of the night’s eighteen three-setters. The Vietnamese dynamo managed to reach 17-17 in the rubber set but gave the final four points to the Chinese giant. Bao is to meet seventh seed Poland’s Przemyslaw Wacha who pulled through against Sairul Amar Ayob of Malaysia.

Women’s singles saw Xing Aying of Singapore make it to a second-straight Super Series quarter-final after defeating seeded Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong. Xing will meet Pi Hongyan of France who survived yet another three-setter against last week’s Singapore Open semi-finalist of Saina Nehwal of India. (internationalbadminton.org)