Korea, Denmark absence boosts RI's hopes
JAKARTA (JP): The absence of badminton powerhouses South Korea and Denmark at the four-star Malaysia Open next week will help Indonesia's men's doubles retain their title, Candra Wijaya said on Tuesday.
"Their absence will be an advantage for us and we should use it," the Olympics gold medalist told The Jakarta Post. "But we have a hard task as the tournament will be applying the new scoring system of the best of five games with each game lasting seven points.
No information was available on the absence of the South Korean and Danish pairs in the event.
Indonesia grabbed two titles in last year's event, namely in the men's singles by Taufik Hidayat and the men's doubles by Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, who both quit badminton last week.
Candra and partner Sigit are the seventh seeds at the July 18 to July 22 event. They will meet Malaysian second string pair Tan Bin Shen and Hooi Teng Yung in the first round. Should they win, the Japan Open champions would likely meet Tadashi Ohtsuka and Keita Masuda of Japan in the second round.
They are likely to challenge second seeds Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun of China in the quarterfinals.
World champions Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto are the top seeds.
"Wow, we never thought we will be the top seeds of the event. If we look at the drawing, we will probably be facing a tough challenge in the quarters with Liu Yong and Chen Qiqiu of China," Tony said.
Tony and Halim will face the qualifiers in the first round. If they win, they are scheduled to meet Malaysians Lee Wan Wah and Ng Kean Kok.
But Bernama reported that Lee had to pull out of the event due to an injury.
"We received a report from the National Sports Institute director Ramlan Aziz today saying that Wan Wah is not fit to play in the Malaysia Open. For that reason, we had to withdraw him from the tournament," Malaysian chief coach Park Joo-bong was quoted as saying.
Tony echoed Candra's opinion that the tournament would be more difficult as it would use the new scoring system.
"We have started practicing using the system since returning from the World Championships in Seville, Spain, last month. But we must focus and be more consistent during the match.
Coach Herry Imam Pierngadi admitted the new system would force his shuttlers to initiate offense from the beginning.
"They must play offensively as the game will be much more tense than in the old system of the best of three games where each game lasts 15 points. They must win the first game to secure their position.
"It's more difficult, but they have been trained in the new system. I'm still relying on the Candra-Sigit and Tony-Halim pairs to defend the title.
Another pair competing in the event is the 1996 Olympics champion Ricky Subagja and the 1996 Olympics bronze medalist Antonius Budi Ariantho.
The veterans will meet Indonesian-born Hendry Kurniawan Saputra and Wandry Kurniawan Saputra who will be playing for Singapore in the first round. If Ricky and Antonius survive, they will face the winner between Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas of Thailand and left-handers Choong Tan Fook and Chang Kim Wai of Malaysia. (yan)