20 nations compete in Indonesia Open<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty countries, including China and South
\nKorea, have confirmed their participation in the Sanyo Indonesia
\nOpen Badminton Championships to be held this month.<\/p>\n
Secretary-general of The Badminton Association of Indonesia
\n(PBSI) Chandra Wiranata told reporters on Monday that the number
\nof participating countries had grown significantly compared to
\nlast year's tournament.<\/p>\n
\"This year's tournament is much better compared to last year's
\nin Bali. China has skipped the Indonesia Open three times in a
\nrow while Korea has missed twice. Their participation will be an
\nadded value to the tournament,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Other participants are Denmark, Sweden, England, the
\nNetherlands, France, Wales, Switzerland, the United States, the
\nCzech Republic, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong,
\nSingapore, India and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
In the men's singles, world number one Peter Gade Christensen
\nof Denmark has a good chance of collecting the title at the July
\n19 to July 23 championships at the Senayan Indoor Stadium.<\/p>\n
Points gathered at the event will be counted by the
\nInternational Badminton Federation to decide on shuttlers for the
\nOlympics, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
World champion Sun Jun of China, whose ranking has been
\ndropped since suffering a back injury last year, and youngster
\nChen Hong are expected to do well prior to the Olympic Games in
\nSydney in September.<\/p>\n
South Koreans Lee Hyun-il and Park Tae-sang, who performed
\namazingly at the Thomas Cup championships in Kuala Lumpur in May,
\nare among the opposition for Indonesian qualifiers Hendrawan,
\nMarlev Mainaky and Taufik Hidayat.<\/p>\n
In the women's singles, world champion Camilla Martin of
\nDenmark also has a strong chance of grabbing the title as she
\nwill only face tough rivalry from Dutch Mia Audina, formerly an
\nIndonesian shuttler, 1998 Asian Games gold medalist Kanako
\nYonekura of Japan and the 1998 Commonwealth Games winner Kelly
\nMorgan of Wales.<\/p>\n
Indonesian men's doubles Olympics qualifiers of Candra Wijaya
\nand Tony Gunawan; Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky; and Flandy
\nLimpele and Eng Hian will face tough challenges from Denmark,
\nSweden and England.<\/p>\n
Denmark will field Michael Sogaard and Jim Laugesen, and the
\nworld number four duo of Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen, while
\nSweden will still rely on the old partnerships of Peter Axelsson
\nand Par-Gunnar Jonsson. England's Simon Archer and Nathan
\nRobertson are names to watch out for at the event.<\/p>\n
Last year, Indonesia netted four of five titles at stake in
\nthe men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and mixed
\ndoubles. Only the women's doubles title went to Denmark. (yan)<\/p>",
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