Gade Christensen, Martin to skip Indonesia Open

JAKARTA (JP): World number one men's singles Peter Gade Christensen and his fiancee world number two women's singles Camilla Martin of Denmark will miss the US$170,000 Indonesia Badminton Open so that they can concentrate on the delayed-2000 World Grand Prix Final.

"The Badminton Association of Denmark (DBF) technical director, Thomas Lund, said earlier this month that Denmark's main shuttlers will not compete in both the Indonesia Open and the Malaysia Open due to their close schedule with the Grand Prix," secretary general of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI), Leo Chandra Wiranata, was quoted as saying by Antara on Monday.

"DBF wants to maintain its shuttlers' performance by not sending them to the Indonesia Open or the Malaysia Open especially since their failure to grab the world champions title early this month."

Gade Christensen lost to eventual champion Hendrawan of Indonesia in the World Championships final while Martin bowed out to Dai Yun of China in the third round.

The Malaysia Open is slated from July 18 to July 22 followed by the Indonesia Open from July 23 to July 29. The World Grand Prix Final will take place from Aug. 8 to Aug. 12 in Brunei Darussalam's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

"There will only be a one-week period between the Indonesia Open and the Grand Prix Final. Gade Christensen and Martin would be very tired if they competed at the Indonesia Open, returned to Denmark before heading for Brunei," said Leo.

"However, I will still try to contact the DBF to have Gade Christensen and Martin in the Indonesian Open. There is still time because the entry's deadline is on July 10."

Denmark, one of the world's badminton powerhouses, has only registered its second tier shuttlers Michael Lamp, Thomas Sogaard, Jonas Rasmussen, Bramsen Jone, Majken Vange, Pernille Harder and Ann Lou Joergensen.

China announced earlier that it would send a full team comprising some of the world's elite shuttlers after three years of absence in the event. The Chinese team will include Chen Hong, Ji Xinpeng, Xia Xuanze, Gong Ruina, Zhou Mi, and Dai Yun.

England will also field its best shuttlers of Colin Houghton, Michael Edge, Mark Constable and Julia Mann.

Meanwhile Thailand will rely on Bonsaak Polsana and India is putting its hopes on Pullela Gopichand.

So far 12 countries have registered their shuttlers including host Indonesia, Belgium, China, Chinese Taipei, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, India, Norway, Switzerland, Thailand, and Wales.

PBSI is still waiting for Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia to send their list of players.

Leo said Gade Christensen's absence would give an advantage to local hero Taufik Hidayat, the world number two and defending champion, to be the event's first seed. (nvn)