World champ Xia withdraws from Open<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau<\/p>\n
An injury has forced world champion Xia Xuanze to quit the
\nIndonesian Open while the hosts suffered a blow in the qualifying
\nround which ended here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Xia was seen among the Chinese team training inside the
\nTumenggung Abdul Jamal Indoor Hall, but the organizing committee
\nconfirmed that the Chinese second seed would not compete.<\/p>\n
\"(Chinese) team manager notified us at 4 p.m. today that Xia
\ncould not play because he is still nursing his injury,\" Cahya,
\nthe tournament director, said during a media conference.<\/p>\n
Xia, who secured his world championship in Birmingham last
\nmonth, suffered a calf injury in his three-set victory over
\nMalaysian veteran Ong Ewe Hock in the third round of the
\nSingapore Open last week. The injury cost him a quarterfinal
\nmatch, handing a walk-over win to Indonesian second stringer
\nWimpie Mahardi.<\/p>\n
Xie was drawn to meet Singapore's Indra Wijaya in the first
\nround of the Indonesia Open, which begins on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Amidst fears of further withdrawals following Denmark's
\nannounced pullout of the event in the wake of the JW Marriott
\nHotel bombing, the US$170,000 Indonesia Open has still registered
\na record 520 players, with the hosts making up the bulk of the
\nparticipants.<\/p>\n
\"What a relief! We had feared that more participants would
\nstay away. In fact, they do not seem deterred by the jolt brought
\nabout by the recent bombing,\" Chairul Tanjung, the chairman of
\nthe Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), said.<\/p>\n
He said that the good upturn should be a good omen ahead of
\nIndonesia's plan to host the Asian Championships in October and
\nthe Thomas and Uber Cups next year.<\/p>\n
The number of participating countries has not changed from the
\npreviously listed 35, with Bo Rafn the only Dane in the event.
\nThough, he has had to pack his bags early, after crashing out in
\nthe qualifying round.<\/p>\n
After two rounds of qualifying matches, however, Indonesia
\nsuffered a blow with the players failing to take advantage of the
\nhome court.<\/p>\n
Of dozens of players Vedra Wibowo is the only Indonesian to
\nqualify for the main draw. While in the women's singles,
\nIndonesia could only see Cahyaning Priyanti and Marissa IP
\nthrough to the main round.<\/p>\n
Among the qualifiers is 2001 All England champion Pullela
\nGophichand of India, who denied Tommy Sugiarto's chance of
\nadvancing to the main round.<\/p>\n
Eny Erlangga\/Lilyana Natsir and Frida Winaryanti\/Firbaya
\nAdelita are the only Indonesian women's doubles while Mega
\nBerlian\/Greysia Polii are the only mixed doubles pair that won
\ntheir main round slots.<\/p>\n
The men's doubles are the exception, with seven places being
\nsecured by local players. It leaves Soon Hock Ong\/Bin Shen Tan
\nthe only outside qualifiers.<\/p>\n
The main round matches will start at 9 a.m. Top seed Chen
\nHong, fresh from winning the Singapore Open, will be challenged
\nby Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Defending champion Taufik Hidayat, who is seeded fifth, will
\ntake on Malaysian qualifier Beng Hong Kuan while Sony Dwi
\nKuncoro, Indonesia's strong hopeful, will begin his campaign
\nagainst little-known Jim Ronny Andersen of Norway.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/world-champ-xia-withdraws-from-open-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}