Rasmussen vows to defend world badminton title

By Primastuti Handayani

COPENHAGEN (JP): Badminton's 1997 world champion Peter Rasmussen is ready to defend his title in the World Championships next week despite a hard drawing in early rounds.

Rasmussen, who defeated Sun Jun in the 1997 finals, will most likely go through to the third round to meet Chen Gang of China.

If he can overcome the 22-year-old Chinese, he will meet compatriot and world number one Peter Gade Christensen in the quarterfinals.

"There will be a very tough match against Chen Gang and if I can overcome him, I'll meet Peter. Yes, I want to defend my title. I think I can do it and I'm in very good shape. However, anything is possible," he said.

"My preparation has been quite good despite my injuries last year," said the 24-year-old shuttler in a news conference on Tuesday.

After winning the World Championships, Rasmussen was out of action with a knee injury for months. In 1998, he only reached the semifinals of the European Championships.

Gade Christensen said he was not disappointed with the drawings.

"If I'm gonna have to meet Peter (Rasmussen), then that's the way it is. I'm not disappointed with the drawings. It's a long way to go to the quarterfinals," he said.

Gade Christensen has done well internationally since last week. He also won the 1998 Danish Open, Malaysian Open, Swiss Open, Japan Open and the European Championships. This year he won the All England and Japan Open.

Indonesia's Hendrawan, seeded eight, will most likely meet Chinese Dong Jiong, seeded 15, in the third round. If Hendrawan can overcome the Asian Games gold medalist, he will probably meet Dane Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, seeded fourth, in the quarterfinals.

Hoyer-Larsen said: "I can't be disappointed with the drawing because I could have met other strong players like Yong Hock Kin or Sun Jun in earlier rounds."

Hendrawan declined to comment, saying he wanted to focus on the Sudirman Cup first.

Indonesia's best hope Taufik Hidayat, seeded 10, will meet second seeded Sun Jun in the third round. If Taufik defeats Sun, he will most likely meet Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock in the third round.

"It's hard but it's not a problem. I have to face him anyway," said Taufik.

In the women's singles, top seeded Ye Zhaoying of China will most likely meet 1998 Asian Games gold medalist Kanako Yonekura in the third round. Yonekura upset Ye in the Asiad semifinals.

Indonesia's Cindana will meet Gong Zhichao in the third round while Lidya Djaelawidjaja will probably face Dai Yun of China. Dane favorite Camilla Martin will most likely meet Korean Kim Ji- hyun.

Four duos

In the men's doubles, Indonesia put four duos as first to four seededs. Top seeded Antonius and Denny Kantono will most likely meet home favorite of Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen. Second seeded Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian will face Chinese pair Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun. Third seeded Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan will challenge Koreans Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon, while the old partnership of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky will meet Koreans Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung.

Indonesia's women's doubles Elysa and Deyana Lomban have withdrawn from the championships as Elysa has an injury.

Team manager Agus Wirahadikusumah said: "We've heard the news from Jakarta saying that Elysa is not totally recovered and has yet to achieve her best form."

Indonesia will only field the partnerships of Indarti Issoliana and Carmelita and Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta. Chinese Ge Fei and Gu Jun, the world champions, have the biggest chance to defend their titles.

In the mixed doubles, Chinese Liu Yong and Ge Fei face a tough challenge from Koreans Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min. Indonesia's Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur will face Liu and Ge in the quarterfinals while Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana will meet the winner between British pair Simon Archer and Joanne Goode and Danish duo Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen.

The championships will start from May 16 and run to May 23. In the 1997 championships, Indonesia only took one title in the men's doubles of Candra and Sigit Budiarto. Sigit failed to perform well after being suspended by the International Badminton Federation . He was found guilty of using the anabolic steroid nandrolone.