Indonesians has biggers chance in All-England<\/p>\n
BIRMINGHAM, England (Agencies): Indonesia's all-conquering
\nbadminton players look set to land the singles titles at the All-
\nEngland championships this week even without Olympic men's
\nchampion Alan Budikusuma.<\/p>\n
A foot injury ruled out Alan, who was pulled off the team late
\nlast week as they were heading for the airport.<\/p>\n
But the Indonesian men have such force in depth they are
\nhardly likely to notice his absence and their cause was
\nstrengthened on Monday night with news that top European Thomas
\nStuer-Lauridsen would miss the tournament.<\/p>\n
Denmark's Stuer-Lauridsen has been the bulwark against Asian
\ndominance in recent years but has not been able to join such
\ngreat Danes as four-times champion Morten Frost on the All-
\nEngland winners' list.<\/p>\n
Stuer-Lauridsen, the fifth seed, has been suffering from back
\ntrouble for three months and decided to withdraw when he
\ndiscovered the Birmingham timetable.<\/p>\n
With no singles matches scheduled for yesterday it would have
\nmeant Stuer-Lauridsen testing his back to the limit with two
\nmatches today and another two tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\"My back is getting much better but I am not ready for a
\nprogram like that at such a high level as the All-England,\" said
\nthe 24-year-old.<\/p>\n
Chinese top seeds Ge Fei and Gu Jun are out of the women's
\ndoubles because Ge Fei injured her back in training a week ago.<\/p>\n
The injury also affects the mixed doubles where Ge Fei and her
\npartner Liu Jianhun were seeded two.<\/p>\n
Denmark's Ib Frederiksen is the first former All-England
\nchampion to be required to qualify and is now one victory away
\nfrom making the tournament.<\/p>\n
Frederiksen, now 32, became the first unseeded singles title
\nwinner at Wembley in 1988. He has emerged from a three-year
\nretirement, beating Etienne Thobois of France and England's Roger
\nMistri to move within one more victory of a place in the
\ncompetition proper.<\/p>\n
First hat trick<\/p>\n
The Indonesians are led by top-seeded Hariyanto Arbi, the 1993
\nand 1994 winner who is trying to become the first player to
\ncapture three successive singles titles here since his great
\ncompatriot Rudy Hartono more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
Rudy won seven in succession up to 1974 and an eighth two
\nyears later. Since then, no man or woman has captured more than
\ntwo on the trot.<\/p>\n
The threats to Hariyanto come from compatriots led by 1991
\nchampion Ardy Wiranata, last year's finalist and second seed, and
\nworld champion Joko Suprianto, losing finalist in 1990 and 1993.<\/p>\n
Even with Alan out, Indonesia has eight of the 16 men's seeds.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has eclipsed the threat posed by China through the
\n1980s after it became member of the international fraternity
\nagain.<\/p>\n
The last of China's five men's titles since 1983 went to Liu
\nJun in 1992 and its top-rated player this time, Dong Jiong, is
\nonly one of the four fifth seeds.<\/p>\n
It has just one other men's seed, a far cry from its
\ndominating days through the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Indonesia holds the Thomas and Uber Cup men's and women's team
\ntitles and its leading woman, Susi Susanti, is the world, Olympic
\nand All-England champion, a title she has won four years out of
\nthe last five.<\/p>\n
She missed out in 1992 when she suffered a shock third-round
\ndefeat by China Ye Zhaoying, a loss she avenged as she regained
\nthe title a year later.<\/p>\n
The second seed is Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea, who has not
\nmanaged a victory over Susanti in more than two years.<\/p>\n
Indonesia also has the top two seeded teams in the men's
\ndoubles but they are less imposing in the women's and mixed
\ndoubles where the other nations have their best title chances.<\/p>",
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