Indonesia secures men's doubles title in Open

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is ensured the men's doubles title at the US$120,000 Malaysian Open badminton championships where 2001 World Champion Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto will play Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto in the all-Indonesian final on Sunday.

In Saturday's semifinals at Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, top seeds pair of Tony and Halim beat Thailand's strongest pair of Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas, fourth seed, 7-2, 3-7, 7-1, 7-1.

Seventh seeds Candra and Sigit outshone the host's remaining hope and third seeds Chew Choon Eng and Chan Chong Ming 7-1, 7-1, 7-2.

The Malaysian Open men's doubles title is the fourth consecutive title for Indonesian men's doubles this year. Tony and Halim had earlier won the All England and the World Championships titles, while Candra and Sigit grabbed the Japan Open title.

In the men's singles event, top seed Chen Hong of China was the next casualty of "giant killer" Rony Agustinus of Indonesia. Unseeded Rony crushed Chen 7-3, 5-7, 7-4, 7-2 in another semifinals on Saturday.

"I was carried away when Chen used different tactics in the second game. But my coach instructed me to return to my own style, and I won the match," Rony told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

Rony will challenge host player and eighth seed Ong Ewe Hock who outclassed seventh seed Xia Xuanze of China. Ong was engaged in a tight game before earning his final ticket with a 3-7, 7-0, 5-7, 7-5, 7-3 victory over Xia.

"I won't find it difficult to play Ong although he has good footwork and a solid defense. I will just play my own style while studying his style. But local spectators really support Ong," said Rony.

"This is my chance to win a Grand Prix title and I will do my best to get it," he added.

Indonesian mixed doubles pair Bambang Suprianto and Emma Ermawati also went into the final after a 7-4, 7-1, 4-7, 7-3 victory over Danish pair of fourth seeds Michael Lamp and Ann Lou Jorgensen.

Top seed pair of Bambang and Emma will face Chinese pair and eighth seeds Liu Yong and Zhang Jiewen, who defeated Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England. The results, however, was not available.

China dominated the women's events after confidently managing two all-Chinese final matches in the singles and doubles.

Top seed Zhou Mi barely broke a sweat to defeat her compatriot Yu Jin 7-2, 8-6, 7-2 and set a final clash with compatriot and second seed Gong Ruina. Gong defeated third seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong 7-5, 7-1, 6-8, 7-4.

In the women's doubles, top seeds Gao Ling and Huang Sui defeated compatriots and third seeds Zhang Jiewen and Wei Yili 8- 7, 5-7, 7-5, 7-2. Gao and Huang will meet team mates of second seeds Huang Nanyang and Yang Wei who defeated Danish pair of fourth seeds Majken Vange and Penille Harder 7-5, 7-0, 7-5.

In the latest, the Badminton Association of China decided to pull out its shuttlers from the $170,000 Indonesian Open for security reasons after the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) called for a special session to ask for President Abdurrahman Wahid to deliver his accountability report.

"BA of China decided to withdraw its shuttlers because the Chinese authorities have banned its people from traveling to Indonesia," PBSI's secretary-general Leo Chandra Wiranata told the Post.

"We have to accept the decision because there is no other options for them. Let's hope this is the last withdrawal."

Leo said he had asked the International Badminton Federation (IBF) to decide a new drawing following the withdrawal.

"China sends its strongest team and most of the players are the top seeds. It will be unfair if we are still using the old drawing. I expect IBF will send it to us on Sunday afternoon at the latest."

Senior event manager of the International Management Group (IMG) Maya Hidayat told the Post that organizers would continue with the Indonesian Open as planned.

"We have obtained the permit from the city police this morning allowing us to continue with the event. They must have studied the security situation before issuing the permit," she said over the phone.

"We have also received the commitment from participating countries that they will come if we keep the event as scheduled Shuttlers from Singapore and Germany arrived on Saturday, while the others are still in Malaysia for the Malaysian Open," she added.

Organizers expect more shuttlers to arrive on Sunday and Monday. (nvn)