RI male shuttlers survive in singles, tumble in doubles
RI male shuttlers survive in singles, tumble in doubles
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles survived their first tests in the Olympics second round matches but doubles tumbled in the quarterfinals.
Top seed Taufik Hidayat got off to a shaky start in his first test against little known Hidetaka Yamada. Luckily his experience in major tournaments including the Thomas Cup championships in May, the 1999 World Championships and the 1998 Asian Games helped him overcome his psychological barrier.
Taufik, who aims to become the youngest gold medalist in the Olympics' badminton, won 15-5, 14-17, 15-8 over Yamada.
"The Olympic Games is the greatest sporting competition in the world," he said, as quoted by AFP. "These are my first Olympics so it is understandable to be a little tense and nervous."
"There are always great expectations on me now, and there is always pressure on me when I compete. It is just something I must deal with."
Taufik will later meet Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock, who had to work hard to overcome Peter Knowles of England 15-3, 12-15, 15-5. The last time they met at the Indonesia Open final, Taufik defeated Ong.
Second seed Hendrawan had a comfortable victory over Tam Kai Chuen of Hong Kong 15-7, 15-7. He will face Pulella Gopichand of India in Tuesday's third round. Gopichand defeated Vladislav Druzchenko of the Ukraine 15-3, 10-15, 15-7.
"Looking at the score, it seemed I played quite easily but it was a tough match. For tomorrow, I'll just do my best," Hendrawan told the Post.
Teammate Marlev Mainaky managed to beat Thomas Johansson of Sweden 15-11, 17-16. He will face Hwang Sun-ho of South Korea, who defeated Bertrand Gallet of France 15-7, 15-12.
"I played rather carelessly in the second game when I was leading 14-10 until Thomas forced a deuce. But I was lucky to be able to control the game before finally winning 17-16," Marlev told The Jakarta Post.
"I met Hwang once and I won but still I have to be careful."
The biggest upset in the men's singles was when defending champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen bowed out to world champion Sun Jun of China 15-3, 16-17, 15-10.
Reuters said Hoyer-Larsen's family has had a tough year in 2000 with his wife suffering a serious illness, requiring him to miss a number of tournaments, but he says the decision was based on his age.
He will officially say goodbye at the Danish Open in October and then plans a career with Denmark's main telecommunications company. "It's time to start a new life."
Despite the joy of the singles victories, the Indonesian team was gloomy over the defeat of defending champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky and third seeds Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele.
The aging Ricky and Rexy had to bow out to world champions Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea, the favorites in the doubles event, 15-5, 15-9.
While Flandy and Didi, Eng Hian's nickname, were upset by Malaysians Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah 10-15, 9-15.
"We played beyond our planned scenario. When we lost in the first game, we started to play extra carefully in the second game which made us very tense. Every time we tried to change our way of playing, the Malaysians knew how to anticipate it," Didi told the Post.
Top seeds Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan remain the only hope for the Indonesian squad to retain the country's domination in the men's doubles. They had to work hard to beat eighth seeds Simon Archer and Nathan Robertson of England 15-13, 15-11.
The Indonesians will face Kim and Ha on Wednesday while another semis will see Choong and Lee challenging another South Korean pair of Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung.
In the mixed doubles, sixth seeds Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana were defeated by fourth seeds Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 17-14, 10-15, 15-11.
That leaves all hope on top seeds Tri Kusharjanto and Minarti Timur, who won 15-3, 15-8 over Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager of Denmark.
Defending champion Kim Dong-moon, who aims to win another gold with a different partner, had to bury his dream as he and Ra Kyung-min were upset by Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China 11-15, 1- 15.
As predicted, women's singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja lost 9-11, 3-11 to top seed Gong Zhichao of China while Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban made their early exit after bowing out 13-15, 11-15 to Joanne Davies and Sarah Hardaker of England. (yan)