Indonesia hoping for W. Cup clean sweep

JAKARTA (JP): Host Indonesia sees its chances of completing a clean sweep in the US$180,000 World Cup badminton championships next week as good, as a number of major contenders opted out of the invitational meet.

Olympic gold medalist and third seed Alan Budikusuma will be the only one to flex muscles on his way to the semifinals. He joins China's giant killer Dong Jiong in round-robin matches in Group D, which also parades Ahn Jae-chang of South Korea and Peter Rasmussen of Denmark.

Only singles group winners qualify for the semifinals at the Sept. 13-17 invitational event. Each of the doubles categories has only two groups, with top teams and their runners-up advancing to the semifinals.

Dong's superb attacking but erratic play has shot down almost all of Indonesian best players, including Hariyanto Arbi, Joko Suprianto and Ardy Wiranata.

Both top seed Hariyanto and second seed Ardy look certain to clear their hurdles in Group A and Group C respectively. Meanwhile in Group B, Malaysian star Rashid Sidek, despite his recent shaky form, could take the advantage over the missing Sun Jun of China to win the other semifinal berth.

World number one Susi Susanti and Uber Cup heroine Mia Audina are riding an easier path to secure the women's singles crown at home, thanks to the absence of Asian Games gold medalist Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea.

Ye Zhaoying of China and Lim Xiaoqing of Sweden are also expected to finish first in their respective group matches. Both Ye and Lim battered Susi's heavy-handed reign this season, upsetting the Indonesian on their way to win the World Championships and All-England respectively.

Reigning world men's doubles champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky remain the red-hot favorite team to win the laurels despite their two successive upset losses in the Indonesia Open and the U.S. Open in Atlanta.

The Indonesians have a great chance of a sweet revenge as they are grouped with China's Huang Zhanhong and Jiang Xin, their conquerors in Atlanta.

South Korean pair of Kim Mee-hyang and Kim Shin-young, number two in the world, top the women's doubles seeding list and serve warning to Indonesian hopefuls, Zelin Resiana/Eliza and Finarsih/Lili Tampi. World champions Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye- ock and their runners-up Ge Fei and Gu Jun joined the tournament's major absentees.

With world mixed doubles champions Thomas Lund and Marlene Thomsen of Denmark opting out of the tournament, Indonesia sets its sight to the fifth title through Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur. (amd)