RI male shuttlers survive in singles, tumble in doubles<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles survived their first
\ntests in the Olympics second round matches but doubles tumbled in
\nthe quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Top seed Taufik Hidayat got off to a shaky start in his first
\ntest against little known Hidetaka Yamada. Luckily his experience
\nin major tournaments including the Thomas Cup championships in
\nMay, the 1999 World Championships and the 1998 Asian Games helped
\nhim overcome his psychological barrier.<\/p>\n
Taufik, who aims to become the youngest gold medalist in the
\nOlympics' badminton, won 15-5, 14-17, 15-8 over Yamada.<\/p>\n
\"The Olympic Games is the greatest sporting competition in the
\nworld,\" he said, as quoted by AFP. \"These are my first Olympics
\nso it is understandable to be a little tense and nervous.\"<\/p>\n
\"There are always great expectations on me now, and there is
\nalways pressure on me when I compete. It is just something I must
\ndeal with.\"<\/p>\n
Taufik will later meet Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock, who had to work
\nhard to overcome Peter Knowles of England 15-3, 12-15, 15-5. The
\nlast time they met at the Indonesia Open final, Taufik defeated
\nOng.<\/p>\n
Second seed Hendrawan had a comfortable victory over Tam Kai
\nChuen of Hong Kong 15-7, 15-7. He will face Pulella Gopichand of
\nIndia in Tuesday's third round. Gopichand defeated Vladislav
\nDruzchenko of the Ukraine 15-3, 10-15, 15-7.<\/p>\n
\"Looking at the score, it seemed I played quite easily but it
\nwas a tough match. For tomorrow, I'll just do my best,\" Hendrawan
\ntold the Post.<\/p>\n
Teammate Marlev Mainaky managed to beat Thomas Johansson of
\nSweden 15-11, 17-16. He will face Hwang Sun-ho of South Korea,
\nwho defeated Bertrand Gallet of France 15-7, 15-12.<\/p>\n
\"I played rather carelessly in the second game when I was
\nleading 14-10 until Thomas forced a deuce. But I was lucky to be
\nable to control the game before finally winning 17-16,\" Marlev
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"I met Hwang once and I won but still I have to be careful.\"<\/p>\n
The biggest upset in the men's singles was when defending
\nchampion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen bowed out to world champion Sun
\nJun of China 15-3, 16-17, 15-10.<\/p>\n
Reuters said Hoyer-Larsen's family has had a tough year in
\n2000 with his wife suffering a serious illness, requiring him to
\nmiss a number of tournaments, but he says the decision was based
\non his age.<\/p>\n
He will officially say goodbye at the Danish Open in October
\nand then plans a career with Denmark's main telecommunications
\ncompany. \"It's time to start a new life.\"<\/p>\n
Despite the joy of the singles victories, the Indonesian team
\nwas gloomy over the defeat of defending champions Ricky Subagja
\nand Rexy Mainaky and third seeds Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele.<\/p>\n
The aging Ricky and Rexy had to bow out to world champions Kim
\nDong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea, the favorites in the
\ndoubles event, 15-5, 15-9.<\/p>\n
While Flandy and Didi, Eng Hian's nickname, were upset by
\nMalaysians Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah 10-15, 9-15.<\/p>\n
\"We played beyond our planned scenario. When we lost in the
\nfirst game, we started to play extra carefully in the second game
\nwhich made us very tense. Every time we tried to change our way
\nof playing, the Malaysians knew how to anticipate it,\" Didi told
\nthe Post.<\/p>\n
Top seeds Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan remain the only hope
\nfor the Indonesian squad to retain the country's domination in
\nthe men's doubles. They had to work hard to beat eighth seeds
\nSimon Archer and Nathan Robertson of England 15-13, 15-11.<\/p>\n
The Indonesians will face Kim and Ha on Wednesday while
\nanother semis will see Choong and Lee challenging another South
\nKorean pair of Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung.<\/p>\n
In the mixed doubles, sixth seeds Bambang Suprianto and Zelin
\nResiana were defeated by fourth seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke
\nOlsen of Denmark 17-14, 10-15, 15-11.<\/p>\n
That leaves all hope on top seeds Tri Kusharjanto and Minarti
\nTimur, who won 15-3, 15-8 over Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager
\nof Denmark.<\/p>\n
Defending champion Kim Dong-moon, who aims to win another gold
\nwith a different partner, had to bury his dream as he and Ra
\nKyung-min were upset by Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China 11-15, 1-
\n15.<\/p>\n
As predicted, women's singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja lost 9-11,
\n3-11 to top seed Gong Zhichao of China while Elysa Nathanael and
\nDeyana Lomban made their early exit after bowing out 13-15, 11-15
\nto Joanne Davies and Sarah Hardaker of England. (yan)<\/p>",
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