Indonesian shuttlers see easy first round

Indonesian shuttlers see easy first round

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles shuttlers, including
Thomas Cup hero Hendrawan, will have slight opening matches at
the three-star Thailand Open beginning on Wednesday.

Hendrawan, currently the world number four, will face little-
known Michael Popov of Bulgary in the first round. The 28-year-
old Indonesian is scheduled to face the winner of the match
between Ian Maywald of Germany and Anuphap Thiraratsakul of
Thailand.

Should Hendrawan reach the third round, he will take on
Malaysian old hand Rashid Sidek. If the top seed still survives
the test, he is likely to be challenged by fifth seeded Chen Hong
of China in the quarterfinals.

Hendrawan, Indonesia's best hope for repeating history to win
the men's singles gold medal in the Olympic Games in Sydney in
September, hopes to end his nearly two-year title drought since
winning the 1998 Singapore Open.

Junior Rony Agustinus is also expected to overcome Shinya
Ohtsuka of Japan and will likely challenge Fung Permadi, an
Indonesian playing for Chinese Taipei in the second round.

Should Rony reach the third round, he is to face the winner of
the match between 1997 World Champion Sun Jun of China and Thomas
Johansson of Sweden.

Teammate Johan Hadikusuma will need to work hard to beat Tam
Kai Chuen of Hong Kong in the first round. Johan, who just won
the 15th National Games in Surabaya in May, is expected to reach
the second round to face Lou Yigang of China, who is likely to
beat Nabil Lasmari of France.

Two-time Indonesia Open runner-up Budi Santoso also has light
challenge in the first round facing Hidetaka Yamada of Japan.
Should he survive, he will face tough challenge in the second
round against Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock.

In the women's singles, the Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI) will only send Ellen Angelina, who will face Yasuko Mizui
in the first round.

But PBSI, which usually relies on the men's doubles to grab
the series title, will also only send a pair of players -- Sigit
Budiarto and Halim Heryanto.

Sigit and Halim, the runners-up in the 1999 Hong Kong Open,
are expected to defeat Malaysians Jeremy Gan and Hong Chien Hun.

In the women's doubles, the country's second best, Etty Tantri
and Cynthia Tuwankotta, are to take on the hosts' best pair of
Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn and Saralee Thungthongkam. If they win,
they will have to challenge Chinese Han Jingna and Zhang Yaqing
in the second round.

PBSI has made a surprising move by repartnering Deyana Lomban
and Indarti Issoliana and partnering Emma Ermawati and Upi
Chrisnasari.

The move is indicative of PBSI's ambition to upset Chinese
domination in the women's sectors, especially with interference
from its training director Christian Hadinata in the women's
doubles training program.

Deyana's current partner Elysa Nathanael, who plans to retire
after the Olympics, has been haunted by her knee injury since
last year, which disabled her from performing her best.

Mixed doubles Emma and Wahyu Agung are facing the German pair
of Inge Kindervater and Juliane Schenk in the first round. The
junior pair of Upi and Nova Widhianto will face Thirayu
Laohathaimongkol and Marthalee Buarung of Thailand in the first
round. (yan)