RI fields Taufik in opening match against England
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)