Indonesia men's singles, doubles have good draws

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles and doubles have good draws in the US$180,000 Yonex Japan Open in Tokyo starting Wednesday. Indonesian shuttlers at least are likely to reach the quarterfinals in the final qualifying round for the Sydney Olympics in September.

Third seed Marlev Mainaky, runner up in the 1999 Grand Prix Finals in Brunei Darussalam, will face little-known Japanese Hidetaka Yamada. If he wins, he will meet the winner between Malaysian Pei Wei Chung and Takaki Hayashi of Japan.

Should Marlev reaches the third round, he is likely to meet 13th seeded Dong Jiong of China. If the Indonesian manages to overcome Dong, he is to face another Chinese, sixth seeded Ji Xinpeng.

Fourth seeded Hendrawan meets Shogo Inagaki of Japan in the first round. If he wins, the Indonesian will face the winner between Chang Feng-Chin of China Taipei and Shuichi Nakao.

If Hendrawan reaches the third round, he is likely to meet dark horse Boonsak Polsana of Thailand. Should he manage to overcome the Thai, Hendrawan will likely challenge fifth seed Chen Hong of China.

World number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark remains a favorite in the event despite the presence of the 1999 world champion Sun Jun of China.

Indonesian top seeds Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan start to face tough contenders in the quarterfinals -- either Malaysians Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock or Thais Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Kitipon Kitikul.

Candra and Tony, who have a bigger chance to win a title here after Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea withdrew, are expected to meet another South Korean pair of Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung, seeded second.

However, the 1998 Grand Prix Finals winners Antonius and Denny Kantono are expected to stop the Koreans' path to the finals as they will likely meet in the quarters.

The 1996 Olympics gold medalists Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, seeded third, will likely meet tough contenders Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Pansisavas of Thailand in the quarters.

In the women's singles, juniors Yuli Marfuah and Niniek Masrikah have slight chances to reach the second round as they must face talented Japanese, Yasuko Mizui and Takako Ida respectively.

Chinese Dai Yun, world number one and top seed here, is likely to repeat her battle against Dane Camilla Martin in the final. Dai lost to Martin, Gade Christensen's fiance, in last year's World Championships in Copenhagen.

Fifth seeds Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban will likely reach the women's doubles quarters to face South Koreans Kim So- yeon and Jung Yeon-kyung. While eighth seeds Emma Ermawati and Vita Marissa are likely to challenge fourth seeds Yim Kyung-jin and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea in another quarters.

In the mixed doubles, old partners Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur, seeded second, are expected to challenge top seeds Liu Yong and Ge Fei in the finals. (yan)