Arbi leads Indonesian sweep at Indian Open

Arbi leads Indonesian sweep at Indian Open

NEW DELHI (AFP): Reigning world champion Hariyanto Arbi ended a 14-month title drought yesterday to spark an Indonesian clean sweep in the US$125,000 Indian Open badminton here.

Arbi, whose last major title was at the Hong Kong Open in November 1995, cut short Indian national champion Gopi Chand's dream run with an easy 15-4, 15-7 win in the final.

The 24-year-old, returning to the circuit after a six-month break because of a calf injury, said he was now ready to defend the world title at Glasgow in May and also win next month's All- England championships.

"I am back to my best," said Arbi, whose world ranking slipped to 25 after the injury.

"I am looking forward to the two majors now."

Arbi said he would skip the Asia Cup at home in Jakarta from Feb. 19 to prepare for the bigger events.

"Indonesia is planning to field the juniors at the Asia Cup, which gives me time to rest and train. I have to guard against any further injuries."

Arbi, who avenged his Olympic defeat to eventual gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark in the semifinals, smashed local hero Gopi Chand out of the one-sided final.

"I found it difficult to control the shuttle against his aggressive play," said the Indian, ranked 190 in the world.

"Arbi was quite superb."

Cindana Hartono, the women's top seed in the absence of fancied Indonesian colleagues Susi Susanti and Mia Audina, won her first international title by defeating South Korea's Lee Soon-deuk.

Cindana, 20, who aims to crack the top 10 barrier this year from her current ranking of 26, needed only 30 minutes to win 11- 6, 11-7.

"There was not much competition here," said Cindana.

"But it feels good to win my first title."

Ade Lucas and Ade Sutrisna won the all-Indonesian men's doubles final with a comfortable 15-5, 15-12 win over Hadi Sugianto and Aras Razak.

The women's doubles title, however, did not come easily to the rampaging Indonesians.

Cynthia and Ethy Tantri dropped the second game to the Korean pair of Lee Soon-deuk and Choi Ma-rae before romping home 15-8, 14-17, 15-5.

Imam Tohari and Emma Ermawati won the mixed doubles final with a 15-3, 15-9 win over Lee Chee Leong and Lee Yin Min of Malaysia.

India's first Grand Prix event was marred by the withdrawal of the entire Chinese contingent amidst reports of a player rebellion against their national federation over an increased share of prize money.

Chinese officials hit back by dropping the team out of the Asia Cup and may also bar them from playing in the All-England and world championships.

Results (prefix number denotes seeds)

Men's singles: 3-Hariyanto Arbi (Ina) bt Gopi Chand (Ind) 15-4, 15-7.

Women's singles: 1-Cindana Hartono (Ina) bt Lee Soon-deuk (Kor) 11-6, 11-7.

Men's doubles: 2-Ade Lucas/Ade Sutrisna (Ina) bt 1-Hadi Sugianto/Aras Razak (Ina) 15-5, 15-12.

Women's doubles: 2-Cynthia/Ethy Tantri (Ina) bt Lee Soon-deuk/Choi Ma-rae (Kor) 15-8, 14-17, 15-5.

Mixed doubles: 1-Imam Tohari/Emma Ermawati (Ina) bt Lee Chee Leong/ Lee Yin Min (Mal) 15-3, 15-9.