China and Iraq to feature in Milo meet

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Next week's Milo Junior Indonesia Open (MJIO) badminton championships will include for the first time China and Iraq, organizers said.

The tournament, which has been included on the International Badminton Federation's calendar, will take place in Medan, North Sumatra, from July 19 to July 25.

About 140 players from 12 countries, including China and Iraq, will take part in the tournament, making it the biggest Milo open ever held.

Mien Susanti from event organizer Gematama Kreasindo said the 14-player Chinese team would be competing by invitation, while the four-strong Iraqi squad was coming to Indonesia on its own initiative.

"We did invite China but Iraq applied to us with information it probably got from the Internet," Santi said.

With traditional badminton powerhouse China competing, the tournament is expected provide a good test for local players, who in the three previous editions of the Milo open did not face much of a challenge from the small contingents of foreign players.

Santi said Iraq's participation was worth noting given everything going on in the country.

"Iraq's shuttlers will travel overland to Amman, Jordan, before taking a flight to Jakarta," Santi said.

The host players taking part in the event will include members of 12 badminton clubs and four players from the national junior training camp.

Among the foreign countries taking part, Malaysia will have the biggest contingent with 23 players, followed by Chinese Taipei (13), Sri Lanka (12), South Korea (12), Singapore (10), Brunei (9), Japan (8), Belgium (3) and Wales (1).

Among the participants are the world's No. 62 ranked women's doubles team of Ha Jung-eun/Ki Oh-seul of South Korea, and 2003 champions Greysia Polii/Heni Budiman of Indonesia, who are ranked 74th in the world, Santi said.

Only three countries participated in the first edition of the tournament in 2001, six in 2002 and nine last year.