Alan only RI survivor in Asian championship

Alan only RI survivor in Asian championship

JAKARTA (JP): Olympic champion Alan Budikusuma reached the Asian badminton championships quarterfinals yesterday to become the only Indonesian singles player left in the annual event.

Men's singles top seed Alan took his match against P. Gopichan of India easily with a 15-12, 15-6 fourth-round victory. But Alan, who brought his nagging foot injury with him to the tournament, held in Beijing, now faces a real test in the form of Park Sung-woo of South Korea in the last eight round today.

Attack-minded Park silenced the home crowd with a healthy 15- 5, 15-7 win over China's Hu Zhilan. The lanky Park has an up and down record, but he sprung a surprise in the Thomas Cup here last year by beating home favorite Hariyanto Arbi.

"Alan needs to work extra hard to win the title. His chance is fifty percent since he is not in top form," national coach Indra Gunawan said. If he beats Park, Alan looks set for a semifinal clash against China's defending champion, Dong Jiong.

Dong overpowered Penninh Kantharoopan of Malaysia 15-7, 15-4 in yesterday's fourth round match. Earlier, the aggressive Chinese player whipped Indonesian second stringer Arief 15-3, 15- 7 in the third round.

Third seed Marleve Mainaky joined the Indonesian whitewashing yesterday, slumping to an upset 9-15, 12-15 to South Korean 12th seed Ahn Jae-chang. Indra had predicted earlier that Marleve would have no serious problems in taming the resilient Korean.

Indonesia's trouncing was perfectly completed in the women's singles when both Cindana and Lidya Djaelawijaya were ousted.

Fifth seed Lydia failed to live up to her coach's expectations, producing too many unnecessary mistakes on her way to an easy 1-11, 5-11 loss to China's rising star Wang Chen.

Unseeded Cindana displayed a contrasting style when she forced South Korean fourth seed Lee Joo-hyun to play a nail biting match. Cindana bounced back from a first set down to force an extra set, but a mature Lee managed to wrap up a 11-7, 11-12, 11- 5 win.

In today's quarterfinals, Lee will meet China's Yao Yan, who defeated Thailand's Somharuthai Jaroensiri 11-3, 11-12, 11-8.

Top seed Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea also secured a quarterfinal berth after her 11-5, 11-8 win over Zheng Yaoqing of China. Bang faces another Chinese obstacle in Zhang Ning, who demolished sixth seed Takako Ida of Japan 11-2, 11-3. (amd)