Lidya, Bambang/Zelin clear first hurdles

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)