Top seeds through to 2nd round of Milo tourney<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>\n
Top seeds breezed to the second round of the US$11,000 Milo
\nJunior Indonesia Open badminton championship here on the opening
\nday on Wednesday, when Sutiyoso made his first appearance at a
\ntournament in his capacity as new chairman of the Badminton
\nAssociation of Indonesia (PBSI).<\/p>\n
Local hope Tommy Sugiarto, who is seeded second, employed a
\nstrong defense to deny Dani Rusnindar of Mutiara Bandung club
\nwith a 15-7, 15-1 win, while top seed Gong Weiji of China edged
\nout Hetiarachchi N. D of Sri Lanka 15-0, 15-2.<\/p>\n
Third seed Lee Cheol-ho of South Korea initially looked to
\nface difficulties against Vicky of Suryanaga Gudang Garam before
\nfinally winning 17-16, 15-10.<\/p>\n
Tommy said that he just played it safe in his first match and
\nhoped that he could improve his performance in the next matches.<\/p>\n
\"I simply tried to play as well as I could and concentrate on
\nwinning every point. I hope it (the strategy) will continue to
\nwork. I know China and Korea have brought their top players,\" he
\nsaid after his match held at Pardede stadium.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Korean shuttler Lee Cheol-ho said that he was
\nsurprised by Vicky's resilience.<\/p>\n
\"Before the match, I thought I would cruise through -- but
\nVicky's defense and attack proved good and (she) gave me problems
\nduring the match. Besides, I also have a problem with the hot
\nweather, so if my match proceeded in three sets I might have
\nlost,\" he said<\/p>\n
The girls' top seeds were also left unchallenged with Lu Lan
\nof China defeating qualifier Eviyanti KD of North Sumatra 11-0,
\n11-1 in only 15 minutes, and Ha Jeung-un of Korea -- who was the
\nrunner up at last year's tournament -- sending home HJ. Sabrina
\nMD Sahat of Brunei with a crushing 11-0, 11-0 win.<\/p>\n
Third seed Fransiska Ratnasari of Indonesia thrashed Sianipar
\nMeta Anggita of North Sumatra 11-0, 11-1, while Osaka Aya of
\nJapan struggled in the first set before overcoming Vina of
\nMutiara Bandung club, West Java, 13-10, 11-1.<\/p>\n
Fransiska looked determined to redeem herself after her dismal
\nperformance at the Asian Junior Championship, in which she lost
\nto eventual runner-up Lu Lan.<\/p>\n
\"I lost quite easily to Lu Lan 11-1, 11-2 in the championship,
\nbut I will try to beat her by playing patiently if I meet her
\nagain,\" she said. But Francisca will have to tackle Wang Yihan,
\nher likely opponent in the quarterfinals, first.<\/p>\n
The first day of the tournament was only watched by some 100
\npeople, but an increased number of spectators are expected to
\nattend the quarterfinals on the weekend.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sutiyoso, who was elected PBSI chairman on
\nSaturday, reiterated his campaign to improve badminton here,
\nsaying he would change most executives of the association under
\nthe previous chairman Chairul Tandjung, to help improve the
\nefficiency of his organization.<\/p>\n
\"I need to revive the association. We will pick people who
\nhave are capable of developing the PBSI and badminton as we will
\nface an uphill task to revive our supremacy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso, who is Jakarta governor, is expected to finalize the
\nnew board of the association in the next two weeks.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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