Indonesia hopes for three titles at home

Indonesia hopes for three titles at home

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The season-closing US$170,000 Djarum Indonesia Open Badminton
Championship begins here on Wednesday with host nation Indonesia
hoping to win three titles.

Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chairman Sutiyoso
said on Tuesday he expected fourth seed Taufik Hidayat, men's
doubles pair Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto and mixed doubles pair
Nova Widhiyanto/Lilyana Natsir to come away with titles.

"We have a great chance to win titles in those categories,"
Sutiyoso, also Jakarta governor, said here on Tuesday.

"Taufik surprised us with his Olympic gold in Athens and I
hope he can carry on with that winning form here at home. We also
hope the reunited pair Candra and Sigit, and the mixed doubles
pair of Nova and Lilyana will win in their categories," he said.

He promised to give Indonesian shuttlers who won titles at the
Indonesia Open bonuses equal to their official cash prizes.

"We started to give bonuses only to the winners of four-star-
or-above tournaments since the China Open this year," he said.

The five-star Indonesia Open will feature five categories:
men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles
and mixed doubles.

A total of US$13,600 in cash prizes will be given away in the
men's singles, $11,730 in women's singles, $12,240 in men's
doubles, $10,370 in women's doubles and $10,370 in mixed double.

There will be 294 shuttlers, consisting of 171 men and 123
women, from 16 countries, including Indonesia, participating in
the tournament, which began on Monday with the qualifying round.

Indonesia is fielding the largest number of shuttlers with
173, including 39 from the national team. Malaysia will field 30
shuttlers and China 25.

South Korea will rest its hopes on nine shuttlers, while
Denmark, France, Russia, New Zealand will be competing with one
player each.

The organizing committee announced that Xia Xuanze of China,
who would have been seeded sixth, and mixed doubles pair Ong Ewe
Hock/Madukasan Sutheaswari of Malaysia have withdrawn from the
tournament.

Defending champion Taufik will face a tough challenge in world
number one and tournament top seed Lin Dan of China in his bid
for his fifth Indonesia Open title.

The Olympic champion won titles in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.
Indonesia's men's singles players have won the tournament each of
the past five years, with Marleve Mainaky triumphing in 2001.

On Wednesday, Lin Dan will play Yeoh Kay Bin of Malaysia,
while Taufik Hidayat will meet qualifier Sigit Wahyudi of
Indonesia.

In the men's doubles, the host nation won the title in 1999
with Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky, and with Candra/Sigit in 2000
and 2001.

In the mixed doubles, Indonesia won the title in 1999 with Tri
Kusharjanto/Minarti Timur, in 2001 with Tri Kusharjanto/Emma
Ernawati and in 2002 with Bambang Supriyanto/Minarti Timur.

While Indonesia enters the tournament with great hope in the
men's categories, the women's prospects are not as promising.
Lidya Djaelawidjaja was the last Indonesian to win the women's
singles title back in 1999, while Deyana Lomban/Vita Marissa were
the last Indonesians to win the doubles title in 2001.