Four Oceania athletes will fight for a place in tomorrow’s finals after rising to the occasion on day three of the YONEX South Australia International. Australia’s Karono Karono, Nozomi Shimizu, Laudya Chelsea Griselda and Michael Owen all kept their tournaments alive.
For Karono, the day was a test of grit. Coming off two strong appearances earlier in the week, he walked into his match against Sang Uk Ahn (KOR) primed and ready, and it showed in the opening game. Ahn looked cold, and Karono capitalised, forcing mistakes to take the first set 21-11.
Then the match turned. Ahn found his rhythm and levelled at 21-19, and the third game became a point-for-point grind. Karono refused to blink, closing it out 21-19 after 71 minutes.
“In the last game I just fought to win it,” Karono said. “Today I was tougher than yesterday.” Recovering from an injury, he hasn’t been able to travel overseas to play, instead working his way back through tournaments in Bendigo and Sydney before arriving in Adelaide. “It’s been good,” he added.
If Karono’s day was a battle, Shimizu’s was a showcase. She now sits in two semifinals, partnered with Griselda in the women’s doubles and Owen in the mixed.
Griselda and Shimizu have been a pair for some time, and their runner-up finish at last month’s MAXX North Harbour International was their best recent result, a sign they’re coming into form. They carried that momentum into Adelaide as top seeds and faced two Australian duos in a single day.
First came hometown pair Hessa Maharoof and Catrina Tan in the round of 16. It was Maharoof’s first international tournament, and she and Tan struggled to find their footing against the world No. 59 combination, going down 21-13, 21-9.
The quarterfinal brought a sterner challenge in the young duo of Smrithi Adepu and Isabella Yan, who had impressed earlier in the day with a win over Crystal Kao and Kishen Lew (AUS). But from the first point, Griselda and Shimizu dictated the pace, winning 21-12, 21-10 in under 30 minutes.
Shimizu then switched partners and took on Fu Hung Chiu and Chia Shan Chien (TPE) in the mixed doubles alongside Owen. After a commanding first game, the Australians had to hold off a late charge from the Taiwanese pair, securing their semifinal spot 21-14, 21-17.
Not every top seed enjoyed the day. Rui Gao (AUS) fought hard in the women’s singles but fell to Kim Do Yeon (KOR) 21-19, 17-21, 11-21. Owen, meanwhile, experienced both sides of the day. After his mixed doubles win, he and Jack Yu (AUS) went down 16-21, 18-21 in a close men’s doubles battle against Moon Hee Cho and Yong Hee Lee (KOR).
A number of other Oceania players impressed before bowing out in the quarterfinals: Ricky Tang and Kai Chen Teoh in the men’s singles; Phillip Halim/Landon Kurniawan and Mogin Lope Gotos/Andika Ramadiansyah in the men’s doubles; Tiffany Lim in the women’s singles; and Jesslyn Carrisia/Faye Huo in the women’s doubles.
