Korea, Denmark absence boosts RI's hopes<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The absence of badminton powerhouses South Korea
\nand Denmark at the four-star Malaysia Open next week will help
\nIndonesia's men's doubles retain their title, Candra Wijaya said
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Their absence will be an advantage for us and we should use
\nit,\" the Olympics gold medalist told The Jakarta Post. \"But we
\nhave a hard task as the tournament will be applying the new
\nscoring system of the best of five games with each game lasting
\nseven points.<\/p>\n
No information was available on the absence of the South
\nKorean and Danish pairs in the event.<\/p>\n
Indonesia grabbed two titles in last year's event, namely in
\nthe men's singles by Taufik Hidayat and the men's doubles by
\nFlandy Limpele and Eng Hian, who both quit badminton last week.<\/p>\n
Candra and partner Sigit are the seventh seeds at the July 18
\nto July 22 event. They will meet Malaysian second string pair Tan
\nBin Shen and Hooi Teng Yung in the first round. Should they win,
\nthe Japan Open champions would likely meet Tadashi Ohtsuka and
\nKeita Masuda of Japan in the second round.<\/p>\n
They are likely to challenge second seeds Zhang Wei and Zhang
\nJun of China in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
World champions Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto are the top
\nseeds.<\/p>\n
\"Wow, we never thought we will be the top seeds of the event.
\nIf we look at the drawing, we will probably be facing a tough
\nchallenge in the quarters with Liu Yong and Chen Qiqiu of China,\"
\nTony said.<\/p>\n
Tony and Halim will face the qualifiers in the first round. If
\nthey win, they are scheduled to meet Malaysians Lee Wan Wah and
\nNg Kean Kok.<\/p>\n
But Bernama reported that Lee had to pull out of the event due
\nto an injury.<\/p>\n
\"We received a report from the National Sports Institute
\ndirector Ramlan Aziz today saying that Wan Wah is not fit to play
\nin the Malaysia Open. For that reason, we had to withdraw him
\nfrom the tournament,\" Malaysian chief coach Park Joo-bong was
\nquoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Tony echoed Candra's opinion that the tournament would be more
\ndifficult as it would use the new scoring system.<\/p>\n
\"We have started practicing using the system since returning
\nfrom the World Championships in Seville, Spain, last month. But
\nwe must focus and be more consistent during the match.<\/p>\n
Coach Herry Imam Pierngadi admitted the new system would force
\nhis shuttlers to initiate offense from the beginning.<\/p>\n
\"They must play offensively as the game will be much more
\ntense than in the old system of the best of three games where
\neach game lasts 15 points. They must win the first game to secure
\ntheir position.<\/p>\n
\"It's more difficult, but they have been trained in the new
\nsystem. I'm still relying on the Candra-Sigit and Tony-Halim
\npairs to defend the title.<\/p>\n
Another pair competing in the event is the 1996 Olympics
\nchampion Ricky Subagja and the 1996 Olympics bronze medalist
\nAntonius Budi Ariantho.<\/p>\n
The veterans will meet Indonesian-born Hendry Kurniawan
\nSaputra and Wandry Kurniawan Saputra who will be playing for
\nSingapore in the first round. If Ricky and Antonius survive, they
\nwill face the winner between Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana
\nPanvisvas of Thailand and left-handers Choong Tan Fook and Chang
\nKim Wai of Malaysia. (yan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/korea-denmark-absence-boosts-ris-hopes-1447893297",
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