All-England tourney no sweat for Hariyanto
All-England tourney no sweat for Hariyanto
BIRMINGHAM, England (Agencies): Title holder Hariyanto Arbi sailed through his first match 15-3, 15-7 against a former champion as he began the defense of his All-England badminton crown yesterday.
But Indonesian compatriot and world champion Joko Suprianto met stiff resistance from Danish lefthander Peter Espersen before pulling out a 17-14, 15-7 victory after trailing 7-1 and 10-3 in the first game.
Hariyanto was up against 1988 champion Ib Frederiksen of Denmark as he began his bid to become the first player to win three singles titles in succession since illustrious compatriot Rudy Hartono more than 20 years ago.
Rudy won his seventh straight championship in 1974 before adding an eighth two years later.
"I have prepared hard to win my third. It is very important for me to do it," the 23-year-old Hariyanto said.
His greater speed was the decisive factor against the 32- year-old Frederiksen, out of the game for three years before starting a comeback last year.
"I need to get used to the speed again," the Dane said. "I was a little faster in 1988 than I am now, but he is faster than anyone I played then."
Frederiksen led 3-1 in the opening game then did not win another point. The Dane kept pace early in the second and led 5-4 then Haryanto took over again.
"He had good strokes. But maybe he was a little slow," Hariyanto said.
Joko, beaten finalist in 1993 but winner of the world title that year, began slowly against the tactical Espersen.
But from 10-3 down, Joko clawed his way back to 14-12, and when Espersen failed on his only set point, Joko pounced to sweep five in a row for the second set. The second was mercifully quick.
"He is very fast, but I had trouble with my serving. Then he started serving deep and became too strong for me," Espersen said.
One of the eight ninth seeds, South Korean Kim Hak-kyun, was the first seed eliminated, losing 15-11, 17-15 to Henrik Sorensen of Denmark.
Indonesia suffered its early major upset on Tuesday when its number one women's doubles team of Lili Tampi and Finarsih, second seeds here, crashed to Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark in a tight three-setter in their second round match.
The Indonesians, taking the second set for a tie, squandered their commanding 10-5 lead in the deciding set with numerous floating lobs before going down 6-15, 15-11, 11-15.
Result
Men's singles results, first round (prefix number denotes seeding): 1-Hariyanto Arbi (Ina) bt Ib Frederiksen (Den) 15-3, 15-7 Thomas Wapp (Swi) bt Anthony Bush (Gbr) 12-15, 15-6, 15-2 9-Hendrawan (Ina) bt Takaaki Hayashi (Jpn) 15-5, 15-9 5-Hermawan Susanto (Ina) bt Robert Nock (Gbr) 15-9, 15-6 9-Rashid Sidek (Mal) bt Peter Bush (Gbr) 15-7, 15-6 Jens Olsson (Swe) bt Vladislav Tichomirov (Rus) 15-10, 15-5 Yong Hock Kin (Mal) bt Tadashi Ohtsuka (Jpn) 15-10, 15-7 Andrei Antropov (Rus) bt Ge Cheng (Chi) 15-11, 5-15, 15-11 3-Joko Suprianto (Ina) bt Peter Espersen (Den) 17-14, 15-7 Park Sung-woo (Kor) bt Fumihiko Machida (Jpn) 4-15, 15-6, 15-4 Imay Hendra (Swi) bt Steffan Pandya (Gbr) 15-12,15-11 9-Fung Permadi (Tpe) bt Rikard Magnusson (Swe) 15-11, 18-17 Pedro Vanneste (Bel) bt Shinnji Bitoh (Jpn) 15-7, 15-12 Henrik Sorensen (Den) 9-Kim Hak-kyun (Kor) 15-11, 17-15 Lo Ah Heng (Mal) bt Tomokazu Umaki (Jap) 15-4 15-2 9-Marleve Mainaky (Ina) bt Peter Kreulitsch (Aus) 15-7 15-9 Anders Nielsen (Eng) bt 5-Dong Jiong (Chi) 15-10 15-8 Peter Rasmussen (Den) bt Henrik Bengtsson (Swe) 15-12 15-4 Peter Janum (Den) bt Detlef Poste (Ger) 15-11 10-15 15-9 Bruce Flockhart (Sco) bt Pang Chen (Mal) 18-14 17-16 9-Lee Kwang-jin (Kor) bt Foo Kok Keong (Mal) 18-15 15-3 Tomas Johansson (Swe) bt Claus Simonsen (Den) 11-15 17-15 15-5
Women's singles, first round: Mette Sorensen (Den) bt Monique Hoogland (Net) 11-6 11-8 Irina Yakusheva (Rus) bt Emma Chaffin (Eng) 11-3 11-7 Margit Borg (Den) bt Marina Yakusheva (Rus) 12-10 12-9