Hendrawan gets good draw for World GP 2000 Finals

JAKARTA (JP): World number four and Olympics silver medalist Hendrawan is in a relatively easy group C at the US$250,000 World Grand Prix 2000 Finals in Brunei Darussalam next month.

Hendrawan, also fourth seed here, is expected to reach the semifinals but first he must be able to tame Danish Kenneth Jonassen, Chen Hong of China and Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia.

"If I look at the group, it shouldn't be that hard to qualify for the semifinals. But it depends on my preparation and I think I'm not well-prepared for the event, especially regarding my physical fitness," Hendrawan told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

"I'm working hard to improve my fitness with supervision from physical trainer Paulus Pasurney."

World number eight Marlev Mainaky will have to struggle as he is in Group A with top seed Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark, (who was just announced as the top earner in 2000), Richard Vaughan of Wales and Lou Yigang of China.

Marlev, who reached the 1999's final but lost to Gade Christensen, is still in Japan to visit his future club YKK.

Another Indonesian, Budi Santoso, will also have to fight hard should he want to reach the semis as he is facing Olympics gold medalist Ji Xinpeng of China, Roslin Hashim of Malaysia and Anders Boesen of Denmark in Group B.

Olympics bronze medalist Chinese Xia Xuanze is in a tough group as he has to face Indian rising star Pulella Gopichand, Wong Choon Hann of Malaysia and Vladislav Druzchenko of Ukraine.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) said in its release that world number one and Olympics silver medalist Camilla Martin of Denmark is the top seed in the women's singles. She will compete against Zhou Mi of China and Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden in Group A.

Olympics gold medalist Gong Zhichao of China is also likely to have easy matches against Mette Sorensen of Denmark and Lee Kyung-won of South Korea in Group D.

Third seed Dai Yun of China is in Group B with Wang Chen of Hong Kong and Mia Audina of the Netherlands. Group C features number four seed Gong Ruina of China, Kelly Morgan of Wales and Kanako Yonekura of Japan. None of Indonesian women's singles qualified in the event.

In the men's doubles, second seeds Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian of Indonesia will have to face compatriots and Olympics gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan in a Group B round-robin match.

Both teams must eliminate Koreans Ha Tae-kwon and Kim Dong- moon and Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia to reach the semis.

Indonesians Sigit Budiarto and Halim Heryanto are facing a tough challenge in Group A as they are with Koreans Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung, Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen of Denmark and Simon Archer and Nathan Robertson of England.

Indonesia also fails to feature its players in the women's doubles.

While in the mixed doubles, the country only fields Olympics silver medalists Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur. They are in the same group with Olympics gold medalists Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China.

European Champions Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen are the top seeds in the mixed doubles' Group A together with Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min of South Korea, Chen Qiqiu and Chen Lin of China and Chris Bruil and Erica van den Heuvel of the Netherlands.

Several players skipped the event including world number five Taufik Hidayat who was banned from attending following a dispute with the Badminton Association of Indonesia, and six-time women's doubles champions Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China who announced their retirement after the Sydney Games. (yan)