RI fields Taufik in opening match against England
JAKARTA (Agencies): Indonesia has picked world number three, Taufik Hidayat, for its round-robin match against England at the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship in Seville, Spain.
Taufik will face Michael Edge in the men's singles second- round match preceding the women's doubles between Indonesians Deyana Lomban and Indarti Issoliana against England's Donna Kellogg and Gail Emms.
The third match will feature women's singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja against Julia Mann followed by men's doubles partners Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya against Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson. The final match will feature mixed doubles between Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur against Simon Archer and Emms. The match will start at 6 p.m. local time (11 p.m. Jakarta Time).
"Candra has recovered from his stomachache and he's ready to play tonight," head coach Christian Hadinata told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview from Seville.
On Monday, Candra complained of feeling sick due to the food.
"I hope the players can overcome the pressure and play normally. However, they must be aware of the English players as today is a very decisive match for both countries. The players are prepared for the match."
Separately, England's doubles coach Rexy Mainaky told the Post that he hoped his players could perform all out.
"We are aiming to win today, therefore we have fielded the best players. I really hope the players can deal with the pressure on court," said Rexy, who started his coaching career in England earlier this year.
Another match will see dark horse South Korea against underdog Sweden.
On Monday, China and top European team Denmark both swept to 5-0 victories on their opening night.
China, bidding for a fourth title in succession, breezed past Sweden while the Danes proved too strong for England as players sweated through temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius.
The Chinese were set on their way with Sydney gold medalist mixed doubles partners Zhang Jun and Gao Ling who beat Frederik Bergstrom and Jenny Karlsson 15-5, 15-10.
Reuters reported that men's singles champion Ji Xinpeng was made to work hard for a while before overcoming Indonesian-born George Rimarcdi 15-6, 8-15, 15-2 and then Gong Zhichao, another Sydney winner, outlasted Marina Andrievskaya 11-9, 11-7.
In the other top match, Denmark's world champion Camilla Martin beat England's Tracey Hallam 11-3, 11-2 to clinch a 3-0 winning lead.
Earlier, Martin's fiance Peter Gade Christensen had an easy 15-2, 15-3 win over Mark Constable after a victory by Jens Eriksen and Mette Schojoldager in a tense mixed doubles against Robertson and Kellogg set the Danes on their way.
Kellogg collected a yellow card near the end for shuttle abuse, the first woman to get one at such a high profile tournament since a new disciplinary code was introduced in February.
It was a testing time for all concerned with temperatures in the streets outside the stadium nudging 40 degrees Celsius.
The winners from the two three-strong elite groups will meet each other at Saturday's final with the bottom teams playing each other for the right to stay in division one.
In group three, All England titleholder Pullela Gopichand of India warmed up for next week's individual world championships with a 17-16 15-3 win over Richard Vaughan of Wales, the world number 10.
"It's hot, said the victorious Indian. "But since I am from India it's a little better for us. I think Richard was getting tired." (yan)