Ardy cancels Japan tour

Ardy cancels Japan tour

TOKYO (AFP): An injury to a right foot ligament forced three- time champion Ardy Wiranata to withdraw from the US$150,000 Japan Open badminton tournament without hitting a shuttle yesterday.

It was a major setback for the Indonesian, the winner here in 1991, 1992 and 1994, who desperately needs more computer points to qualify for the Atlanta Olympic Games.

Maximum three players from one country will be eligible for the Olympics, and Wiranata is currently ranked below his teammates Heryanto Arbi, Joko Suprianto and Alan Budikusuma.

His withdrawal gave Soren B. Nielsen of Denmark a free ticket to the second round and another Dane, All-England champion Poul- Erik Hoyer Larsen, a bigger chance to survive the third quarter.

Third-seeded Hoyer Larsen, who said Tuesday that he would target to reach the semi-finals here, needed only 15 minutes to beat Japan's Yuzo Kubota 15-4, 15-4.

World and defending champion Arbi, top seed, had a tough time to fend off the challenge from China's Lin Liwen 18-15, 15-12, while former world champion Suprianto, second seed, made easy work of Japan's Shinji Bito 15-7, 15-8.

Olympic champion Budikusuma, fourth seed, was a 15-10, 15-8 winner over Peter Janum of Denmark.

Eight seeded female players, led by world champion Ye Zhaoying of China and defending champion Susi Susanti of Indonesia, received first-round byes and will make their appearances today.