Marlev hopes to reach Korea Open quarters

Marlev hopes to reach Korea Open quarters

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles player Marlev Mainaky
hopes to be able to reach the quarterfinals of the US$250,000
Samsung Korea Open on Cheju Island starting Wednesday despite a
lack of preparation due to a long holiday at the year-end.

"I really want to grab another title but it seems it will be
very difficult. I think I'll reach the quarterfinals to set up a
meeting with the 2000 All England winner Xia Xuanze," Marlev told
The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

Marlev will get a bye in the first round but will meet the
winner of the match between Kim Hak-kyun of South Korea and
Yousuke Nakanishi of Japan in the second round.

"Kim is a veteran player and he's quite good but I think
Nakanishi will be able to overcome him. I saw the Japanese guy
play during my visit to Japan last year and he was very good."

Should Marlev reach the third round, the sixth seed Indonesian
will likely meet Rasmus Wengberg. If he wins, he will possibly
set up an encounter with Xia.

"I lost to Rasmus in the Swiss Open last year but I had just
recovered from foot surgery. I'm sure I can overcome him in the
tournament."

Marlev, who has been out in the cold since winning the 1993 US
Open, said the long holiday at the year-end prevented him from
reaching optimum physical fitness.

"I'll have to fight really hard from the early rounds. It's
more important not to play long rallies to save energy due to my
poor physical fitness."

The Indonesian players tried the courts on Tuesday and Marlev
said he did not have a problem with the chilly weather.

Yonhap news agency reported that the Korea Badminton
Association canceled Tuesday's opening of the event due to the
heavy snowfall that hit the nation last weekend.

"I think the weather is not a problem at all. The problem with
playing in Korea is the linesmen because most of the time they
try to cheat foreign players. So I have to be really accurate
with my game," Marlev said.

Separately, men's doubles specialist Sigit Budiarto, who will
return with former partner Candra Wijaya, said the delay in the
opening gave the players enough time to rest.

"We didn't land at Seoul airport on Monday morning due to the
snow and the plane landed at Cheju airport instead. Therefore, we
had to finish the immigration formalities in Seoul and just
arrived here last night. As the tournament opening is delayed,
it's really good because we can rest one more day," said the 1997
World Champion.

Sigit and Candra's teaming up again drew attention from the
media as they used to be Indonesia's aces in men's doubles before
Sigit was banned in 1998 in a doping case.

"Hopefully we can win a title here," Sigit said.

Sigit and Candra will face Kim Young-gil and Han Dong-sung of
South Korea in the second round as both pairs receive byes in the
first round.

If they win, they will likely meet Michael Sogaard and Jim
Laugesen in the third round.

Women's doubles junior Diah Novita expressed the hope of
achieving a good result in her first big tournament event.

"I was a little bit nervous but I've overcome it. We have
prepared for nearly three months for the event and hopefully we
won't crash in the early rounds."

Diah and partner Rossy Riani will face Choi Young-ah and Kim
Song-geum of South Korea in Wednesday's first round. (yan)