Indonesia, South Korea top group with hard-fought victories in Sudirman Cup

 Indonesia and South Korea topped their respective groups at the Sudirman Cup following securing hard-fought 3-2 victories against Malaysia and Denmark here on Wednesday evening.

All of the four teams had already qualified for the last eight before their final group matches, but they had to fight for better placing to avoid meeting hosts China in the quarterfinals.

The draw for the quarterfinals was made immediately after the last match. In the upper half, China meet India, South Korea face Malaysia, while in the lower half, Denmark play Chinese Taipei, Japan take on Indonesia.

With world No. 3 Hidayat Taufik, men's doubles Olympic champions Kido Markis/Setiawan Hendra and mixed doubles ace Liliyana Natsir all absent from the competition, the young Indonesian team showed their depth of talent by coming from behind two times to defeat Malaysia 3-2.

Men's doubles world No. 3 Kien Keat Koo/Boon Heong Tan eased past Indonesian pair Alvent Yulianto Chandra/Mohammad Ahsan 21-15, 21-17 in the opener before Adriyanti Firdasari pulled one point back for Indonesia by beating Lydia Li Ya Cheah 21-8 21-12.

Though World No. 1 Chong Wei Lee restored the lead with an easy victory over Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka 21-8, 21-8, Greysia Polii/Meiliana Jauhari levelled the score again by defeating Eei Hui Chin/Pei Tty Wong 23-21 21-14.

Fran Kurniawan Teng/Pia Zebadiah Bernadet withstood the pressure in the decider, getting the better of Peng Soon Chan/Liu Ying Goh 21-18 21-15 to secure the top place for Indonesia in Group 1B.

Danish veterans Peter Gade and Tine Baun awarded the European side two points in the singles, however, South Korea won the doubles.

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