Korea, Denmark absence boosts RI's hopes

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)