PBSI targets three titles at All England

JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) targeted its shuttlers to grab three titles from the four-star 2001 Yonex All England Open, mainly from the men's and mixed events, the training director of the Indonesian Badminton Center (PBI) Christian Hadinata said.

"We still have chances in the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles events because there are no dominating countries in these events," he told reporters on Thursday.

"The strength is somewhat evenly distributed in these events, unlike the women's division which is dominated by Chinese shuttlers," he added.

Christian was speaking at a farewell ceremony at the center in Cipayung, East Jakarta. The shuttlers will leave for England on Saturday evening. The Open will take place from March 7 - March 11.

Meanwhile, women's singles coach Verawaty Fadjrin said she did not expect her shuttlers to attain the highest achievement due to their poor condition.

"I only expect them to equal last year's result. At least they should win in the early rounds," she said.

Indonesia only managed to take the men's doubles title when Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan won it in the 1999 All England. Young singles player Taufik Hidayat only finished as runner-up, bowing out to Dane Peter Gade Christensen in the final.

Chinese Ye Zhaoying took home the women's singles title. The women's doubles title went to the South Korean pair of Chung Jae- hee and Ra Kyung-min while the British pair of Simon Archer and Jo Goode won the mixed doubles title.

According to the draw published at www.worldbadminton.net on Thursday, top seed Christensen is set to meet either seventh seed Indonesian Marlev Mainaky, who takes on Daniel Erikkson of Sweden in the first round, or 14th seed Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the men's singles match.

Taufik, fifth seeded in the event, will see Michael Edge of England in the first round. If Taufik can proceed smoothly, he is likely to face in the quarterfinals Sydney Olympics gold medalist Ji Xinpeng of China, the third seed in this event.

In the second leg, second seed Xia Xuanze of China is unlikely to face any difficulties in overcoming unseeded Muhammad Hazif Hashim of Malaysia in the first round. In the third round, he must outplay Indonesian Budi Santoso to gain a place in the quarterfinals.

Sydney Olympics silver medalist Hendrawan of Indonesia, seeded fourth in this event, is likely to challenge either Kenneth Jonassen from Denmark, seeded eight, or 13th seed from South Korea Lee Hyun-il in the second leg of the quarterfinals.

In the women's singles, Indonesian Lydia Djaelawijaya will face tough opponent Kelly Morgan of Wales in the first round. If she can get through, Lydia will face the winner between Dutch Karina de Wit and Japanese Miho Tanaka.

Another Indonesian, Ellen Angelina is expected to beat Rebecca Pantaney of England before meeting Chinese Xu Li in the second round. While Indonesian Yuli Marfuah is due to meet Gao Yuan of Scotland in the first round. All the Indonesian women are unseeded.

Men's doubles players Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, the only top seeds from Indonesia, will have a first-round bye. In the second round, they will meet duo Chew Choong Eng and Chan Chong Ming of Malaysia, who also received a bye.

If Flandy and Eng Hian survive the third round, they are likely to meet Michael Lamp and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark in the quarterfinals. The Danish pair are the seventh seeds.

Indonesia's other men's doubles Tony and Halim Haryanto will meet Chries Davies and Matthew Hughes of Wales, while Bambang Suprianto and Tri Kusheryanto will face the Chinese pair Liu Yong and Chen Qiqiu in the first round.

In other first round matches, Candra and partner Sigit Budiarto will face Dutch pair Quinten van Dalm and Dennis Lens.

The Indonesian veteran men's doubles pair of Ricky Achmad Subagdja and Antonius Budi, who have to travel to Birmingham at their own expense, will face host pair of Chris Hunt and Julian Robertson.

Indonesian women's doubles players Carmelita and Deyana Lomban, seeded five, will face Joanne Muggeridge and Felicity Gallup of Wales, while compatriot Minarti Timur and Emma Ermawati will face Ra and Lee Kyung-won of South Korea in the first round.

In another leg, Indarti Issoliana and Etty Tantri will face Megumi Oniike and Kaori Mori of Japan.

Minarti, who partners Bambang in the mixed doubles, will meet Jim Laugesen and Pernille Harder of Denmark in the first round. While Tri and partner Indarti will face Chris Davies and Robyn Ashworth of Wales.

In the second leg, Emma, who partners Wahyu Agung, will compete with Bjoern Siegemund and Nicol Pitro of Germany. (nvn)