Haryanto faces Swede in badminton GP finals

Haryanto faces Swede in badminton GP finals

SINGAPORE (AFP): World badminton champion Haryanto Arbi of
Indonesia will face Jens Olsson of Sweden in the first round of
the US$325,000 World Grand Prix finals which start here on
Wednesday.

Haryanto, who is number one in the grand prix points listing
and is the favorite for the men's crown, is grouped with Olsson,
Lee Kwan Jin of South Korea and Rashid Sidek of Malaysia in group
A.

Haryanto's compatriots Alan Budikusuma and Joko Suprianto top
groups B and C while Dane Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen leads group D.

If the rankings hold good, Haryanto would face Alan in the
semifinals.

The International Badminton Federation announced the groupings
on Saturday.

Players will be competing in a round-robin format in four
groups of four players in the men's singles, four groups of three
players in the women's singles and two groups of four pairs in
each of the doubles events.

Chinese-born Swede Lim Xiaoqing, who tops the grand prix
points listing for women, will meet Han Jingna of China and
Yuliani Sentosa of Indonesia in group B.

Lim has gone from strength to strength this year, winning the
prestigious All-England title in addition to Danish, Chinese-
Taipei, Thailand and Singapore tournaments and will be out to
round off the year in style.

Indonesia's Mia Audina, Denmark's Camilla Martin and China's
Ye Zhaoying lead group A, C and D respectively.

The prize money on offer at the finals this year is the
biggest yet, and completes the Grand Prix series which totals
more than $2 million.