Hendrawan, Marlev move into Japan Open quarters

Hendrawan, Marlev move into Japan Open quarters

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles players Hendrawan and
Marlev Mainaky reached the quarterfinals of the US$180,000 Yonex
Japan Open in Tokyo on Thursday but teammate Hariyanto Arbi made
an early exit Wednesday after being tumbled by a lesser-known
opponent.

The country's men's doubles, who are preparing for the Olympic
Games in Sydney in September, managed to reach the quarterfinals.

Indonesia's women's singles and mixed doubles players also
survived challenges in the second round to secure berths in the
quarters.

Fourth seeded Hendrawan, who only reached the quarterfinals in
the All England and Swiss Open last month, managed to overcome
Boonsak Polsana of Thailand 11-15, 15-8, 15-6. Earlier Thursday,
the Indonesian had an easy win over unseeded Shuichi Nakao of
Japan 15-1, 15-6. On Wednesday, the Indonesian defeated another
Japanese, Shogo Inagaki, 15-8, 15-11.

Hendrawan will face Ahn Jae-chang of South Korea, who won his
battle against host Japan best hope Keita Masuda 15-11, 12-15, 8-
6. Masuda retired in the third game but there was no information
on the reason.

Marlev, the 1999 Grand Prix Finals runner-up, will face Ji
Xinpeng of China in Friday's quarterfinals. Marlev, third seeded
here, defeated South Korean Park Tae-sang 15-11, 15-9. Park had
earlier surprised the crowd by crushing the 1998 Asian Games gold
medalist Dong Jiong of China 15-9, 7-15, 15-12.

In the second round, Marlev had to play hard to overcome
little-known Takaaki Hayashi of Japan 10-15, 15-4, 15-5. Earlier,
the Indonesian had some trouble handling another Japanese,
Hidetaka Yamada, before winning 15-9, 15-13.

Hariyanto Arbi, the 1999 Singapore Open winner, was
unexpectedly upset by Wei Ng of Hong Kong 13-15, 15-3, 15-6. Ng
had to bow out to eighth seeded Luo Yigang of China 5-15, 8-15.

Another surprise came from unseeded Roslin Hashim of Malaysia,
who pulled off two upset wins Thursday to set up a quarterfinals
meet against Danish world number one Peter Gade Christensen.

AFP reported Hashim, ranked sixth in his country and 33rd in
the world, shocked world silver medalist and ninth seeded Fung
Permadi of Taiwan 15-7, 11-15, 15-6 in the second round.

The Malaysian then crawled back from 0-5 down in the third
round to score a 17-15, 15-4 victory over world champion Sun Jun
of China, fifth seed, who has been recovering from a left knee
injury.

Spotlight

In the men's doubles, Indonesian pairs remain under the
spotlight after reaching the quarters. Top seeded Candra Wijaya
and Tony Gunawan survived their test in the second round against
Tadashi Otsuka and Keita Matsuda of Japan 12-15, 15-9, 15-9. They
will meet the Malaysian on-and-off partnership of Cheah Soon Kit
and Yap Kim Hock, the 1996 Olympics silver medalists, who beat
Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Kitipon Kitikul of Thailand 15-8, 6-15,
15-3.

The 1996 Olympics gold medalists Ricky Subagja and Rexy
Mainaky reached the quarters after eliminating dark horses Zhang
Wei and Zhang Jun of China 15-10, 3-15, 17-14. They will meet
Malaysian second players Rosman Razak and Chew Choon Eng.

National women's doubles Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban
also reached the quarters after winning Thursday's match 15-12,
15-13 against Shizuka Yamamoto and Seiko Yamada of Japan. The
Indonesians, seeded fifth here, will challenge third seeded Chen
Lin and Jiang Xuelian of China, who had an easy win over Sandra
Watt and Kirsteen McEwan of Scotland 15-2, 15-5.

Both Indonesian mixed doubles of Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti
Timur and Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana also reached the
quarters.

Unfortunately, the country's women's singles second stringers
of Yuli Marfuah and Niniek Masrikah suffered humiliating defeats
in the first round against seeded players. Yuli lost 1-11, 0-11
to seventh seeded Yasuko Mizui of Japan while Niniek bowed out 6-
11, 0-11 to fifth seeded Zhou Mi of China. (yan)