Only Budi and Rony crash in Korea Open first day

Only Budi and Rony crash in Korea Open first day

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia men's singles Marlev Mainaky and Johan
Hadikusuma reached the third round of the US$250,000 Samsung
Korea Open at the Hanra Gymnasium in Cheju Island, South Korea
after winning their early round matches Wednesday.

Unfortunately, teammates Budi Santoso and Rony Agustinus had
to bow out to their opponents.

Marlev, who had a bye in the first round, defeated host player
Kim Hak-kyun 15-6, 15-6. Kim earlier ousted Yousuke Nakanishi of
Japan but no score was available as of the time of going to
press.

Sixth seed Marlev will meet Rasmus Wengberg of Sweden, who
beat host shuttler Park Sung-hwan. Earlier, Rasmus eliminated
Malaysian junior Pei Wei Chung while Park had a walkover win over
Mongolian shuttler Altansvkh Jargalsaikhan.

Jargalsaikhan failed to show up due to a snow storm that hit
his country and prevented the whole team from traveling as the
temperature reportedly dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Speaking of his chances against Wengberg, Marlev said they
both had tied 1-1.

"I think I'm in good condition and I played well in my opening
matches. Let's just see who will be better prepared tomorrow,"
Marlev said in a telephone interview.

Should Marlev go through to Friday's quarterfinals, he will
meet the winner between All England champion Xia Xuanze of China
and Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia.

Xia, who also had a bye in the first round, beat Korean young
star Shon Seung-mo while Yong defeated Ng Wei of Hong Kong.
Earlier Wednesday, Ng sent Indonesian Rony Agustinus back home.

Johan set up a third round encounter with top seed and world
number two Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark. Johan beat Kwon
Woo-jin in the first round and won over Cai Yun of China in the
second round.

Meanwhile, Gade Christensen, who received a bye in the first
round, easily overcame Michael Edge of England.

Tenth seed Budi survived his first test over World Junior
Championships semifinalist Bao Chunlai of China but fell short to
overcome Hong Kong veteran Tam Kai Chuen.

Old hand Fung Permadi, an Indonesian representing Chinese
Taipei, also bowed out in the second round to Xiao Hui of China.

Men's doubles top seeds Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian saved
their energy by having a walkover victory as opponents
Jargalsaikhan and Batkhurel Ochirpurev failed to show up. They
will face Michael Lamp and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark on
Thursday.

"I have seen Lamp play before but he was partnering Lars
Paaske. I don't think either of them are threats for us. I
believe we'll be able to overcome them," Eng Hian said.

Three Indonesian women's pairs managed to reach the second
round. Eighth seeds Carmelita and Deyana Lomban beat Emma Chaffin
and Sarah Hardaker of England 15-9, 15-6. They set up a second-
round encounter with host pair Chung Jae-hee and Lee Kyung-won.

Indarti Issoliana and Etty Tantri were too powerful for Korean
youngsters Kim Ji-yeon and Kim Young-mi to win 15-3, 15-4.
Juniors Rossy Riani and Diah Novita managed to reach the second
round after working hard to oust Choi Young-ah and Kim Song-geum
15-3, 11-15, 15-8. (yan)