Hendrawan goes through in Danish Open
Hendrawan goes through in Danish Open
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles top seed Hendrawan and
men's doubles top seeds Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian reached the
next round at the US$250,000 Danish Open at Farum Arena in
Copenhagen.
The home crowd was disappointed when their aging hero Poul-
Erik Hoyer-Larsen, the 1996 Olympics gold medalist and defending
champion here, bowed out to a lesser known Chinese player.
Hendrawan, world number one and the 2000 Olympic silver
medalist, had to fight hard to defeat Par-Henrik Croona of Sweden
15-8, 15-14 Wednesday. The 28-year-old Indonesian will next meet
Chen Wei of China, who tamed Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands 10-
15, 15-5, 15-6.
Another Indonesian, Johan Hadikusuma, had to work hard to
upset fourth seed Pulella Gopichand of India 15-13, 15-12. Johan
faces young Chinese qualifier Lin Liwen, who defeated Joachim
Fischer Nielsen of Denmark 15-3, 7-15, 15-10.
Second seed Peter Gade Christensen, who is expected to take
over the role of Hoyer-Larsen in Danish people's heart, also
reached the third round by defeating teammate Martin Kyrger 15-5,
15-9.
In men's doubles, Flandy and Eng Hian were stretched to the
limit by Ian Sullivan and Anthony Clark of England before the
Indonesians finally managed to conclude the match 13-15, 15-12,
15-6.
Flandy and Eng Hian will face Quinten van Dalm and Dennis Lens
of the Netherlands. The Dutch pair also had to fight hard to
defeat Michael Lamp and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark 15-6, 10-15,
15-7.
Compatriots Sigit Budiarto and Halim Heryanto, fresh from
their victory at the Dutch Open last week, are to meet Norio Imai
and Hiroshi Ohyama of Japan later Thursday. The Japanese beat
Bjorn Siegemund and Joachim Tesche of Germany 12-15, 17-16, 15-9.
Hoyer-Larsen, perhaps playing his last match before a home
crowd, failed to overcome young talented Xiao Hui of China and
bowed out 11-15, 15-8, 6-15.
"I didn't play my normal game, because in my head I was
thinking too much that this could be my last match ever," said
the 34-year-old Dane as quoted by www.worldbadminton.net..
"I was also very tired. For these last few weeks, I allowed
myself to practice only three or four times a week; which was
nice because it was only pleasure."
"I have found in badminton what I was looking for, a great
deal of traveling, fun, meeting people and seeing places. It all
started as a hobby, then it turned into work, and now it is time
for it become a hobby again."
Hoyer-Larsen, who failed to perform his best during the year
due to the illness of his wife, will be honored in a special
ceremony Thursday evening right after a pop concert by the Danish
pop group Michael Learns to Rock. (yan)