Lidya, Bambang/Zelin clear first hurdles
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian women's singles shuttler, Lidya Djaelawidjaja, and the mixed doubles team of Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana got off to comfortable starts to their Olympic campaign in Sydney on Saturday.
Unseeded Lidya needed only 30 minutes to dispose of Kara Salmundson of Canada with a 11-4, 11-4 win at The Dome's Pavilion 3 at Olympic Park, Homebush Bay.
With similar ease, Bambang and Zelin barely broke a sweat in defeating Chris Hunt and Donna Kellogg of England 15-10, 15-1 in 34 minutes.
Lidya said her victory was an ideal warm-up before facing tougher opponents in the remaining matches. In Sunday's second round, she will meet Sandra Dimbour of France, who received a bye in the first round.
"I was lucky that I didn't meet a seeded player in the opening round. The win was a warm up to face tough rivals," she told Antara.
If Lidya overcomes Dimbour, she will likely meet top seed Gong Zhichao of China in Monday's quarterfinals. Lidya has never beaten All England champion Gong in their two previous encounters.
Lidya said that she had a little trouble with the windy stadium.
"The heater made the shuttlecock move unpredictably," she said.
Another Indonesian hope in the women's singles event, Ellen Angelinawaty, will have to meet second seed Camilla Martin of Denmark in the second round Sunday. Should Ellen upset Martin, she will likely face Mia Audina, her former teammate now representing the Netherlands.
Mixed doubles sixth seeds Bambang and Zelin had an easy path to the second round. They quickly raced to 7-0 in the first game before the English pair recovered to 7-11. But continuous unforced errors cost Hunt and Kellogg their brave comeback and the game.
In the second game, the Indonesian pair only needed 10 minutes to wrap up the match.
"I was really surprised when Hunt and Kellogg produced so many unforced errors specially in the second game. They posed us a real menace in the first game. Maybe they lost their concentration," said Bambang after the match.
Speaking of their second-round opponents Chen Qiqiu and Chen Lin of China, Zelin said: "We met them twice this year and won both meetings. But I think they are still tough contenders and we must beware of them."
The Chinese defeated home favorites, Rio Suryana and Kellie Lucas, 15-0, 15-3.
Head coach Christian Hadinata was delighted with the way Indonesian shuttlers cleared the first hurdle.
"I think Bambang and Zelin performed their best and Lidya also played well," he said.
Separately, men's singles second seed Hendrawan told Indonesian journalists at home in a teleconference that he was ready to face Tam Kai Chuen of Hong Kong on Monday.
"I have met Tam twice and I was taken to the limit before winning in rubber sets. In our last meeting in the 1999 World Championships in Denmark, I put up a fight before scoring a 17-16 third-set win. I'm ready for another tough game," Hendrawan said.
Hendrawan said he did not care about the draw, which might pit him against defending champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark or world champion Sun Jun of China in the quarterfinals.
"I don't care whom I play. I just want to be the champion. I'm more relaxed now and I'm poised to regain the form that helped us win the Thomas Cup two years ago. Hopefully I can play my best badminton," he said. (yan)