Indonesia looks to benefit by China's absence from Sanyo Open

Indonesia looks to benefit by China's absence from Sanyo Open

By Primastuti Handayani

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI) deputy athletes development officer Hadi Nazri expressed
hope that Indonesian shuttlers in the women's singles and doubles
and mixed doubles could take advantage of the absence of Chinese
and South Korean players in the US$150,000 Sanyo Indonesia Open.

"If we see from their drawings, our national players could
benefit. They must not lose in early rounds before their own
public," he said.

"With the recent point system where athletes will get a point
bonus if they can beat seeded players, I hope our shuttlers will
not be afraid and can win. They must think of it as their
chance," he added.

In the women's singles tournament, which will start Wednesday
at the Yuwana Mandala Hall, top seeded Camilla Martin of Denmark,
the 1999 World Champion, will not face a tough challenge in early
rounds.

She will only face a tough challenge in the quarterfinals by
meeting Indonesian Lidya Djaelawidjaja, who will likely be able
to overcome her juniors in the first and second rounds.

Second seeded Cindana Hartono, the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA)
Games gold medalist, will have to take on Heike Schoenharting of
Germany in the first round. If she wins, she is likely to face
Dane Mette Pedersen. If Cindana reaches the quarterfinals, she
will possibly meet Margit Borg of Sweden.

Meiluawati has to work hard in the first round as she will
meet third seeded Mette Sorensen of Denmark, the 1999 World
Championships semifinalist and the 1998 Indonesia Open finalist.
The winner is likely to challenge Ellen Angelina, the 1997
Indonesia Open finalist.

Mia Audina, who now plays for the Netherlands, will miss the
tournament to retain her title.

Hadi said: "Based on the rankings, Camilla is far above our
shuttlers. She usually doesn't play really well in Indonesia.
We'll see how our shuttlers perform in their meets."

Trouble

In the women's doubles, defending champion Elysa and Deyana
Lomban will have to retain their titles. They won over Dane Rikke
Olsen and Marlene Thompsen last year.

However, Elysa and Deyana will have to work hard to overcome
Danish pairs of Mette Schjoldager and Ann-Lou Jorgensen in the
quarterfinals.

If they reach the semifinals, they will likely challenge top
seeded Ann Jorgensen and Maiken Vange of Denmark. But Jorgensen
and Vange will have to take on another Indonesian pair of Vita
Marissa and Emma Ermawati in the second round.

Second seeded Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta of Indonesia,
the 20th SEA Games gold medalists, will face trouble in beating
their opponents in early rounds. They are likely to meet Rikke
Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard of Denmark in the semifinals. But
Olsen and Kirkegaard will have to face another Indonesian duo of
Indarti Issolina and Carmelita in the quarterfinals.

"This is the perfect moment to test our new partnerships
performance. If they can beat higher seeded pairs, it will
increase their self confidence. We have urged them to have a
target of reaching the top eight in the world for the Olympics
qualification by the end of this year."

In the mixed doubles, Dane Michael Sogaard was optimistic that
he and partner Rikke Olsen would make a comeback beating Tri
Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur.

"I have never lost when I play here. I'm in my best physical
condition. I'm very optimistic," he said.

Last year in Jakarta, Sogaard and Olsen had to bow out to Tri
and Minarti.

But Hadi said Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana were
expected to beat Sogaard and Olsen in the semifinals to secure an
all-Indonesian final match.

"Although Tri and Minarti will likely face another Danish
double of Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager in the semifinals, I
hope the old hands can overcome the challenge."

Separately, deputy referee of Indonesia Open, Juniarto
Suhandinata, Malaysian men's singles Wong Choon Han and Rashid
Sidek and Indonesian men's doubles Tri Cahyo had to withdraw from
the tournament due to injury.

"Both Wong and Rashid withdrew due to injury and they had
medical certificates from their doctors."