Budi exits early from JVC tourney

Budi exits early from JVC tourney

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

2002 All-England finalist Budi Santoso suffered an upset
defeat in the opening round of the US$150,000 JVC Asian Badminton
Championships at the Bung Karno Indoor Tennis Stadium here on
Wednesday.

Budi went down to JBS Vidyadhar of India 12-15, 12-15, a loss
that is likely to cost him a place on the national squad.

"I fully understand that if they (the Badminton Association of
Indonesia officials) don't intend to keep me anymore after the
championships. I'll accept it," a downbeat Budi lamented.

He said that he was sure that he would not be participating in
the upcoming Vietnam Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, because the
championships are serving as a qualifying field for the national
squad.

Budi was the only big Indonesian name to crash out. The home
players, in the absence of Chinese players and top-ranked
Malaysians and Koreans, proved too strong for their opponents.

Defending champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro conceded only four points
to outclass Ahsan Qamar of Iran 15-3, 15-1 while compatriot
Taufik Hidayat, whom Sony beat during the 2002 finals in Bangkok,
crushed Zulkifli MD Salleh of Brunei Darussalam 15-5, 15-4.

Simon Santoso and Rony Agustinus followed suit, marching to
the second round by dispatching Korean Hwang Ji-man 15-2, 15-7,
Japanese Nakanishi Yousuke 15-8, 15-5 respectively.

With the majority of spectators opting for the Taufik-Salleh
match, Budi endured a string of strong smashes in his first-set
loss to Vidyadhar.

In the second set, the 28-year-old Indonesian seemed to
discover his composure with his dominating play which paved him
to a 11-5 lead.

But he somehow became distracted and fell victim again to
powerful smashes from the Indian, who clawed his way back to win.

"I failed to counter his smashes. They were strong smashes,"
he said.

Meanwhile, two Indonesian women's pairs were declared losers
after turning up to the court late.

Endang Sugianti/Nathalia Poluakan and Eny Erlangga/Lilyana
Natsir failed to show up in time because, as they admitted, they
had not been notified about the revised timetables.

Eny/Lilyana gifted Vietnamese pair Le Ngoc N Nhung/Tran Thi
Thanh Thao a free ticket into the second round.

Endang/Nathalia could have easily marched into the second
round as their opponents Aigul Temiralieva/Tamara Chjen of
Kyrgistan could not attend the match either.

That allowed free passage to Malaysian pair Wong Pei Tty/Chin
Eei Hui, who now advance to the quarterfinals without playing a
single set.

Greysia Polii/Rani Mundiasti become the only Indonesian
women's pair in the competition. They defeated Japanese Matsuo
Mihoko/Hirayama Yu 15-3, 15-1.

In the men's doubles, German open champions Flandy Limpele/Eng
Hian faced little difficulty as they ran over Cambodian pair Deng
Titramey/Sam Bunnarith 15-2, 15-0, followed by Hedra Gunawan/Joko
Riyadi, Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto and Markis Kido/Hendra
Setiawan.

In the women's singles, Indonesian Maria Kristin, Fransisca,
Siti Mahiroh and Silvi Antarini marched into the second round.