Several big names to miss Indonesia Open championship<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Malaysian and Chinese big names will miss the
\nIndonesia Open badminton championships in Yogyakarta next week,
\nbut the organizers are not afraid of a major drop in the
\ntournament's quality.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Thomas Cup squad composed of men's singles Rashid
\nSidek, Ong Ewe Hock and Foo Kok Keong and world-rated doubles
\nplayers Cheah Soon Kit, Soo Beng Kiang, Yap Kim Hock and Tan Kim
\nHer has definitely opted to skip the Aug. 10-14 Grand Prix event
\nas they will compete in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria,
\nCanada.<\/p>\n
The Commonwealth Games will run just three days after the
\nYogyakarta tournament which offers a total of US$166,000 in cash
\nprizes. Malaysia will field a second string team of 20.<\/p>\n
The list of major absentees also include Chinese women's
\nsingles defending champion Ye Zhaoying, her male compatriot Asia
\nCup champion Dong Jiong. Other famous names who will make no show
\nare Denmark's top men's singles Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen and ace
\ndoubles specialists Thomas Lund and Jon Holst Christensen.<\/p>\n
Most of the players who have opted to miss the Indonesia Open
\nare starting their World Cup campaign in Ho Chi Minh City today,
\nwith Indonesian shuttlers expected to flex their supremacy.<\/p>\n
Secretary general of the Badminton Association of Indonesia
\n(PBSI), RAJ Gosal, denied during a press meeting yesterday that
\nsome absentees might be disappointed with the treatment they
\nreceived during the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals here last May.<\/p>\n
"They may suffer injuries or not have had enough recovery time
\nbefore competing in a bigger event," he said. He admitted that
\nPBSI did not receive any explanation from the absentees.<\/p>\n
Ye claimed her second successive crown here last year by
\nbeating world number one Susi Susanti and denied the host team of
\na clean sweep. Junior players will line up a weak Chinese team,
\nwith veteran women's singles Tan Jiuhong being the only familiar
\nname.<\/p>\n
First time<\/p>\n
A total of 68 overseas players from 10 countries have
\nconfirmed their entry at the international badminton meet held
\nfor the first time in Yogyakarta, a small town renowned for its
\ntourist spots.<\/p>\n
Host team will parade its triumphant Thomas Cup and Uber Cup
\nsquads and a hundreds of players who will represent their
\nrespective provinces and clubs.<\/p>\n
Gosal also denied that the tournament will not lose its
\nprestige due to the number of non-attenders. "We still have South
\nKoreans and, of course, Indonesia's world-class players," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
With almost all of top beaters missing from the event, host
\nshuttlers will likely dominate the 13th edition of the Indonesia
\nOpen. "We have a great chance to produce a clean sweep for the
\nfirst time," he said.<\/p>\n
The competitions will be contested in the newly completed
\nAmongraga indoor stadium. Yogyakarta municipal authorities have
\ndonated more than Rp 860 million (US$396,860) from its annual
\nbudget to finish the construction project of the new sport venue.
\nLocal authorities started the project 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
All participants are scheduled to arrive by Aug. 8, the date
\nfor the welcome party at Yogyakarta palace hosted by Sri Sultan
\nHamengkubuwono X. (amd)<\/p>",
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