Flandi/Eng Hian win Copenhagen Masters
Flandi/Eng Hian win Copenhagen Masters
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian ended their disappointing 2004
campaign on a high note by beating Shang Yang and Zheng Bo of
China in the men's doubles final at the Copenhagen Masters on
Wednesday.
Flandi and Eng Hian defeated the Chinese pair 15-13, 15-5,
according to the tournament's website, www.badminton.dk.
The Indonesian pair of Candra Wijaya and Halim Haryanto also
won the title.
For Flandi and Eng Hian, the path to the final began with a
difficult match against Tan Bin Shen and Ong Soon Hock of
Malaysia, which the Indonesians won 15,13, 16-17, 15-10. They
then defeated Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark 15-12,
15-13 to book a spot in the final.
Shang and Zheng advanced to the final with victories over
Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard of Denmark 15-10, 15-10, and
Simon Archer and Robert Blair of England 17-15, 15-13.
The Copenhagen victory was Flandi and Eng Hian's only title of
the year. The pair crashed out in the semifinals of the Indonesia
Open last week.
The pair's victory also offered some consolation for the
Indonesian team after Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, fresh off
his triumph at the Indonesia Open, had a disappointing run in the
men's singles competition.
Drawn in Group 1, Taufik failed to reach the final after
suffering two defeats, losing 15-8, 15-6 to Peter Gade of Denmark
and 15-6, 15-8 to Malaysia's Wong Choong Hann.
Peter Gade went on to win the men's singles title, defeating
countryman Kenneth Jonassen 15-8, 7-15, 15-7 in the final.
Jonassen topped Group 2 over China's Xia Xuanze and Malaysia's
Lee Chong Wei.
The Copenhagen Masters is an unofficial tournament on the
International Badminton Federation calender, and features a
select group of players competing in only three of the normally
sanctioned five events.
The event provided a total of 320,000 Danish krone (about
US$53,740) in cash prizes.
Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager prevailed over Carsten
Mogensen and Rikke Olsen 15-7, 15-9 in an all-Danish mixed
doubles final.
Indonesia did not have any representatives in the mixed
doubles.