Rony expected to retain form in Indonesia Open<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's men's singles Rony Agustinus is
\nexpected to retain his top performance at the US$170,000
\nIndonesia Open to begin on Wednesday at Bung Karno Indoor
\nStadium.<\/p>\n
Coach Agus Dwi Santoso told The Jakarta Post upon his arrival
\nfrom Malaysia on Monday that he had not set a special target for
\nthe world-ranked 31st Indonesian, but only expected him to
\ncontinue his top form.<\/p>\n
\"I see Rony has improved his performance, especially mentally,
\nbut he must retain the image of being able to reach the finals.
\nHe can't lose to lesser-known shuttlers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rony reached the concluded Malaysia Open by crushing All
\nEngland champion Pullela Gopichang of India, world champion
\nHendrawan of Indonesia and world number two Chen Hong of China to
\nreach the finals.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, he had to bow out to experienced host Ong Ewe
\nHock in a nail-biting match.<\/p>\n
\"I still have to observe Rony's form in the next three or four
\ntournaments before setting a target for him in the future. He
\nstill needs to adapt to the new scoring system,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
The $120,000 Malaysia Open is the first Grand Prix series to
\ndecide the winner on the best of five games with each game
\nlasting seven points. The scoring system was introduced by the
\nInternational Badminton Federation to make the sport more
\ninteresting.<\/p>\n
Rony, who is seeded sixth in the Indonesia Open, which starts
\nJuly 23, will meet Jim Ronny Andersen of Norway in the first
\nround. Should he win, he will face the winner of the match
\nbetween Park Tae-sang of South Korea and Boonsak Polsana of
\nThailand.<\/p>\n
If he survives, he is likely to challenge second seed
\nGopichand in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Hendrawan, the world number seven, is facing Yeoh Kay Bin of
\nMalaysia in the first round. If he succeeds in winning, he is
\nlikely to challenge archrival Tam Kai Chuen of Hong Kong in the
\nthird round.<\/p>\n
World champions Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto top the
\nseeding list in the men's doubles. They will be challenged by
\nFrederik Bergstrom and Henrik Andersson of Sweden in the second
\nround.<\/p>\n
Should they manage to overcome all barriers, the world number
\nfive are likely to repeat the Malaysia Open scene by facing
\ncompatriots Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, who are ranked as
\nsecond seeds here, in the final.<\/p>\n
Candra and Sigit, the Japan Open winners, defeated their
\nfellow countrymen last week in a tough battle.<\/p>\n
Newly crowned Malaysia Open winner Bambang Suprianto remains
\nthe top seed at the mixed doubles with permanent partner Minarti
\nTimur, who missed last week's event due to illness and was
\nreplaced by Emma Ermawati.<\/p>\n
Their toughest challengers in the final will likely be juniors
\nNova Widhianto and Vita Marissa or Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms
\nof England.<\/p>\n
China, which previously dominated the top seeding lists,
\ndecided to pull out in the last minutes fearing the security
\nsituation during the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Special
\nSession, which elected Megawati Soekarnoputri as new President on
\nMonday. This is the fourth consecutive time that China has
\nskipped the Indonesia Open. (yan)<\/p>",
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