Candra and Sigit team up again to win Japan Open
Candra and Sigit team up again to win Japan Open
TOKYO (AFP): Indonesia's Sydney Olympic champion Candra Wijaya
appeared happy teaming up with his old partner Sigit Budiarto to
win the men's doubles title at the US$180,000 Japan Open
badminton tournament on Sunday.
The 1997 world champions, both 25 now, powered their way
through to a convincing 15-7, 15-11 victory over the Danish duo
of Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske in the final.
"We teamed together again from this year at the Korean Open in
January. I had a long break after the Sydney Olympics and we
couldn't do well in Korea. But we reached the final at All
England," said Candra.
"Since before we left Indonesia, we have been concentrating
really well on winning this title, because this is one of our
biggest goals this season. We were able to concentrate 100
percent on this tournament."
The golden couple split after Sigit failed to pass a doping
test at the Singapore Open in August 1998 and was banned for a
year before coming back to compete at the China Open in November
1999.
Candra paired with Tony Gunawan to win the Japan Open last
year at his second attempt here, and went on to win the gold
medal in Sydney with him.
"It was really a tough and sad period, but I just tried to
practice hard thinking nothing of the past but only of the
future. So I'm really happy now and it's the proof of how
miserable I was," said Sigit.
"Because his partner won the gold medal in the Olympics while
he had been banned," joked Candra at his side in a post-match
interview.
"We played together from the beginning and he won the Olympic
gold. I'm determined to win the same medal with him. First of
all, we are going to aim for winning the world championships next
month," said Sigit.
"We are still not good enough in every aspect, technically,
mentally and physically, comparing with when we were together
before. We have to work harder to improve our game," said Candra.
"It was also a good pair with Tony, but I'm going to make a
better team with Sigit. The Athens Olympics are a bit too far. We
just try to improve our game and win a tournament one by one," he
added.
Indonesia's squad also had another joy Sunday as new
partnership of Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur managed to
grab their first title in a tournament after being paired
together in November.
Bambang and Minarti, who previously partnered with Tri
Kusheryanto for Sydney 2000 Olympics silver medal, had to sweat
out before squashing Liu Yong and Cheng Jiao of China 15-6, 14-
17, 15-5.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Roslin Hashim became the first Malaysian
to win the men's singles title by beating Lee Hyung-il of South
Korea.
Fresh from his victory at the Swiss Open two weeks ago, the
world number three combined his defensive game with an array of
successful smashes and attacks to score a 15-11, 15-6 victory in
48 minutes.
In the all-Chinese women's singles final, second seed Zhou Mi
powered past third seed Gong Ruina 11-8, 11-0 to win her first
Japanese title and the $12,420 top prize.
China also grabbed another title in the women's doubles after
Gao Ling and Huang Sui defeated compatriots Huang Nanyan and Yang
Wei 15-13, 15-10.
"I took part in the Japan Open three times. I reached the
quarterfinals at my first attempt and the semifinals last year.
I'm really glad that I won today," said Hashim, 25.
"Especially in my country, I think I put my name in badminton
history by winning this title. I'm really happy about that."
Malaysia has won only the men's doubles title at the Japan
Open previously with victories by brothers Razif and Jalani Sidek
in 1986 and Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock in 1998.
"I'm in my top form right now after winning two tournaments in
a row. My next goal is the world championships in May in Spain,"
said Hashim, who posted his third singles title following the
1998 Dutch Open and Swiss last month.
The victory brought him the winner's check of $14,400.